INTRODUCTION AND USE 

OF THE 

GRADED LESSONS 



INTERNATIONAL COURSE 



PRIMARY MANUAL 



Class. 
Book. 



GopyiightE - 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



Introduction and Use 

of THE 

Graded Lessons 

INTERNATIONAL COURSE 

PRIMARY MANUAL 

PREPARED BY MARION THOMAS 




Approved by Committee on Curriculum 
Board of Sunday Schools, ?vIethodist Episcopal Church 

HENRY H. MEYER, EDITOR 



THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI 



Copyright, 191 5, by 
MARION THOMAS 



DEC -81915 

©CLA416754 



CONTENTS 

P 

A First Word to the Reader 

CHAPTER I 

Why Graded Instruction and the International Graded 

Lessons : 

The Average Sunday School and Its Pupils — Historical — 
A Universal Xeed — A Difference of Opinion — That Which 
is Known to be True — The International Graded Lessons. 

CHAPTER II 

Why Special Lessons for Primary Pupils 

The Child the Reason for Special Lessons — The Xeeds of 
the Child of Primary Age — Characteristics that are Op- 
portunities for Religious Instruction — Why Graded Pri- 
mary Lessons. 

CHAPTER III 

The Primary Lessons of the International Course of 

Graded Lessons 

The Primary Lessons a Series of Lessons — Part of a 
Course of Study — The Beginnings of the Course — Begin- 
ners' Lessons Preparatory to the Primary — The First 
Year Primary Lessons — The Second Year Lessons — The 
Third Year Lessons — The Aim of the Primary Series. 

CHAPTER IV 

Conditions and Arrangements for Teaching the Primary 

Graded Lessons 

A First Requisite — A Graded Primary Department — The 
Ideal Arrangement — When One Room is Available — 
When a Separate Room is Not Available. 

3 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER V page 

Preparing to Introduce the Lessons 41 

The Primary Superintendent's Preparation — A First Step 
— A Second Step — A Third Step — Why Preparation by 
the Superintendent — The Class Teacher's Preparation — 
Preparation for Teaching in a Particular Grade — The 
Preparation of the Pupils — Cooperation Necessary. 

CHAPTER VI 

How to Proceed in Introducing the Lessons 51 

A Restatement — The Proper Use of the Lessons — On In- 
troducing the Lessons — Introducing the Lessons in a 
Graded Primary Department — Introducing the Lessons in 
a Partially Graded Primary Department — The Ungraded 
Primary Department — First Steps in Grading Such a 
Department — The Assigning of Teachers — The Introduc- 
tion of Graded Primary Instruction. 



CHAPTER VII 

The Problem of Graded Lessons in the Small School .... 65 

A Plan for the Small School — A Graded Lesson Scheme for 
a Sunday School with Only Six Teachers — Graded Lesson 
Scheme (Chart) — Of Interest to the Primary Teacher. 

CHAPTER VIII 
Conditions and Equipment for Teaching 73 



A Lesson for the Sunday School to Learn — A Criticism — 
Suitable Sunday School Surroundings— Further Aids in 
Securing Proper Conditions for Teaching — The Superin- 
tendent and Class Teacher's Responsibility. 

CHAPTER IX 

The Teacher at Work 83 

The Teacher's Problem and Quickening Aspiration — The 
Influence of Personality — Hints to the Teacher. 



CONTENTS 5 

CHAPTER X page 
The Story Method and the Bible Stories of the Primary 

Lessons 91 

The Lessons to be Taught by the Story Method — Love for 



the Story Instinctive — The Child and the Story — A 
Second Reason for the Use of the Story — The Place of 
the Story — Added Reasons for the Use of the Story — The 
Story Gives or Recalls an Experience — The Story an 
Impulse to Action — What the Story Should Do for the 
Child — The Use of Bible Stories — The Story to be Told, 
Xot Read — Power to Tell a Story— Steps in the Story- 
Teller's Preparation. 

CHAPTER XI 

The Use of Pictures in Teaching the Primary Lessons. . . 101 
The Picture Something Like a Story — The Picture a 
Means for the Giving of Instruction — The Picture a Means 
for Depicting Character and Inner Life — The Picture a 
Means for Modifying Conduct — The Picture a Means for 
Interpreting Truth — Some Uses of Pictures in Teaching — 
The Number of Pictures to be Used at One Time — The 
Use of the Picture by the Child — The Picture Sets of the 
Primary Course — Additional Pictures. 

CHAPTER XII 

Handwork and Expressional Activities . 113 

What is Meant by Handwork — What is an Expressional 
Activity — Reasons Why — Handwork and Expressional 
Activities Exemplified — The Xeed of Guidance — Different 
Activities — Handwork — Busy Work — Practical Questions 
— Equipment — Class Teacher's Equipment for Directing 
Handwork — The Pupils' Equipment. 

CHAPTER XIII 

Promotions and Promotion Requirements 129 

Rapidly Changing Opinions — Former Views — Steps in Ad- 
vance — The Effect Upon the Sunday School — Promotion 
Requirements — A Guide for Work — The Present Outlook. 



6 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XIV page 

The Real Test of the Lessons 141 

A Means for Testing the Lessons Desirable — The Purpose 
of the Lessons the First Test — The Child a Test of the 
Lessons — Results to be Striven for and Expected — Re- 
sults Apparent from the Use of the Lessons — A Final 
Word. 

APPENDICES 

Appendix A. Purpose and Aims of the International Graded 



Lessons. . .% 153 

Appendix B. Outline of Primary Graded Lessons for the 

Three Years 159 

Appendix C. Primary Graded Lesson Equipment 171 



A FIRST WORD TO THE READER 



The Larger Purpose of the Primary Department 

The particular problem with which this book deals 
is the introduction and use of the Primary Series of 
the International Graded Lessons. To understand the 

problem and the manner in which it 
Essential ma -" ^ e s °l ye d it is necessary first to 

consider the purpose of the primary de- 
partment in its relation to the religious education of 
the child. 



Religious instruction is not permitted in the public 
schools. It is only in the exceptional home that any 
The Present attempt is made to give the systematic 
Sunday School and continuous religious instruction 
needed by growing children. In the 
minds of many parents there is uncertainty and con- 
fusion as to what should be taught and as to how reli- 
gious teaching should be given. Within the average 
family utterly inadequate attention is given to religious 
training. Hence the responsibility for the religious 
education of the child rests largely with the church 
and with the Sunday school. 

At one time religious education was thought of only 

7 

p 



8 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



in terms of instruction. Now it is regarded as includ- 
The Aim of * n S instruction, worship, the practice 
Religious of religion, and experience in doing 

Education Christ-like acts. Its aim is to bring 

God and Christ into the heart and the life of the indi- 
vidual, and to develop Christian character. To de- 
velop Christian character is the supreme need of the 
Sunday school. 

The child of primary age, the child six, seven, or 
eight years old, is still near the beginnings of life. He 
Child Religion is not yet far removed from the begin- 
and the Larger • f h j religious life< To help him 

Purpose of the 5 ■ . . ° v . t . 1 F 

Primary to develop m tnis life, to live the reii- 

Department gious life that is normal for him, is 
the larger purpose of the primary department. 

The primary department does more than instruct. 
It seeks to nurture the developing religious life of the 
child in all the ways that are possible. It provides for 
religious instruction, and the teaching of those great 
truths from the Bible which are fundamental and 
necessary to the development of the Christian life. It 
gives the child experience in conscious worship, helps 
him to be reverent and to feel that he is living in the 
presence of God. So far as it is possible it directs 
the child's practice of religion. It makes possible and 
helps the child to perform Christ-like acts. 



Because of this broader purpose, it is evident that 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSOXS 



9 



lesson teaching is only one of the agencies in the reli- 
Lesson gioiis education of the primary child. 

Teaching a .It is evident that the lessons of any sys- 

Means to an tern are to be taught not because they 

End , r , A - 

are a part ot a system or an end m 

themselves, but because they are a means to an end. It 
is evident also that whatever lessons are taught should 
be adapted to do for the primary child all that is possi- 
ble for lessons to do. 

For lessons to accomplish all that is possible they 
should be chosen especially for children of the age to 
whom they are to be taught. This brings us to the 
question, Why graded lessons in the Sunday school? 
and to the discussion of the particular problem under 
consideration in this book, which is, the introduction 
and use of the Primary Lessons of the International- 
Graded Lesson Course. 



p 



Each stage in the development of the religious life 
of the child is in turn a preparation for the stage that 
follows. It is essential, therefore, that the religious 
teaching of any given time be suited to the particular 
stage of development that has been reached by the 
pupil; and it is clear that if the needed religious in- 
struction suited to some other stage be substituted, the 
religious growth cannot proceed normally nor reach 
that measure of completeness and well rounded ma- 
turity which should be the goal of such instruction. 

Henry H. Meyer. 



p 



10 



CHAPTER I 

WHY GRADED INSTRUCTION 
AND THE INTERNATIONAL 
GRADED LESSONS 



P 



1 1 



CHAPTER I 

Why Graded Instruction and 
the International Graded Lessons 

One hears of exceptional Sunday schools where 
there are children and no adults as pupils, or adults 
The Average an< ^ no children. In the average Sun- 
Sunday School day school there are pupils of different 
and Its Pupils ages. There are children at the begin- 
nings of everything that life has to offer. There are 
boys and girls emerging from childhood, and youth 
looking out upon the world with serious, questioning 
eyes. There are young men and women facing the 
problems of adult life, and adults bearing the burdens 
of the burden-bearing years. 

When one stops to consider, one realizes that the 
pupils in each of these stages of development must 
have instincts, interests, characteristics, capabilities, 
and needs that are peculiarly their own. One of the 
purposes of the Sunday school is to meet spiritual 
needs of its pupils. If the spiritual needs of the pupils 
are different at different ages it follows that for the 
pupil in each stage of his development there should 
be lessons chosen especially for him. Such lessons, 
properly arranged, constitute a course of study. The 
International Graded Lessons are such a course. 



At one time it was only the adult that was consid- 
p 



14 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



ered capable of salvation. No later than 1820 a 

. , teacher in a small Connecticut town 

Historical 

was driven from a church edifice to- 
gether with a group of children whom she had taken 
into the church on Sunday to give religious instruction. 
This was "in the old days of the doctrine of infant 
depravity [when] a child was thought more meanly 
of than in any place or day in history." "Instead of 
being regarded as each ends in themselves [the dif- 
ferent stages of development through which the child 
must pass] were considered as so many necessary evils 
to be overcome as rapidly as possible, until adulthood 
made the individual of some worth." 

To-day is the age of little children. We glory in the 
fact that this is so, both for the sake of the child's 
happiness and present welfare and for the strength of 
his body, mind, and character at maturity. The modern 
contention is that "the adult is the child of his in- 
fancy" or in other words that the health, character, 
and efficiency of the adult are dependent upon and 
conditioned in large measure by the nurture received 
during childhood, that most formative period of life. 
It is believed that each stage of development in the life 
of the child is in turn a preparation for the following 
stage, and that the child should have no other struggle 
than to be at each stage just what that stage requires. 
Similarly for the boy, and for the man in general, 
there should be no other requirement. It follows, 

therefore, that for the complete and vigorous develop- 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



ment of the individual there must be the nurture of 
the body, mind, and spirit which the individual at each 
stage needs and is capable of receiving. 

Religious education is one of the means of minister- 
ing to the development of the mental and spiritual 

nature. Without it the individual can- 
A Universal . , r i1 r « . « 

■ Need not attain to the tullest, finest, highest 

development of character possible to 

man. The history of man throughout the ages has 

proved this to be true. 

Religious education includes religious instruction. 
(See A First Word to the Reader.) There is, how- 
ever, a difference of opinion regarding 
A Difference of , « . . . 111 
Opinion * e re hgious instruction needed by a 

child at different ages and the methods 
by which it shall be given. 

There are people who claim that any lesson, so long 
as it is taken from the Bible, contains some truth for 
the child no matter how immature and undeveloped 
his mind may be. Others hold that while it may be 
possible to extract from any lesson taken from the 
Bible some truth for a child, the child's spiritual needs 
are to be met best by lessons chosen especially for him. 
A universal truth underlies this belief. 

For an illustration of this truth turn the pages of a 
much used Bible — turn them thoughtfully and slowly. 
What do you find? Some pages are worn thin, some 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



are held in place by strips of pasted paper. That a 
certain chapter may be turned to with readiness at all 
times, one finds it indicated by a bit of ribbon, a 
cherished letter, a card, or other marker. And does 
not one also find certain verses underlined, and 
penciled notes and dates beside others? 

What do the worn and crumpled pages mean? Do 
they not mean that here are the Bible passages that are 
turned to the oftenest for help or comfort, for inspira- 
tion, or guidance ? The underscored and dated verses, 
are they not the words of truth turned to in hours of 
special need or when the soul is hungry and thirsty for 
God and for righteousness? 

The little child is hungry and thirsty too, but he can- 
not find his wa] T unaided in the Bible. He cannot find 
the stories that he enjoys because they meet some need 
of his spiritual nature. The stories, the truths he 
needs, must be found for him by some one who is in 
sympathy with him, who understands his needs better 
than he understands them himself. This process of 
selection must be done by the religious educator. 
When it is done in the same spirit as that in which the 
adult goes to the sources of strength, the Bible stories 
and verses chosen for the child will contain truths that 
are real and vital for him. To meet the needs of the 
developing child it is believed that there should be 
special lessons for each year of his life. 

Children of one age differ in interests, character- 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



istics, and capabilities from children of another age. 
That Which Is Parents know that this is so. They dis- 
Known to Be tinguish between their younger and 
True older children in the care they give 

them, in their discipline and instruction and in their 
requirements and assignments of duties. Teachers in 
the secular schools know it and teach subjects and 
employ methods adapted to the capabilities of their 
pupils. Everyone may know it who will watch chil- 
dren of different ages at home, in school, on the play- 
ground, or in the street. It remains for the church and 
Sunday school to come to the realization of these evi- 
dent facts and to act in accordance with them. 

The interests and characteristics of children of any 
age are indicative of spiritual needs that are peculiar 
to that age. That they should be met is evident. They 
are indicative also of the religious teaching best adapted 
to meet these needs and contribute to the highest de- 
velopment of the child's religious life and spiritual 
nature. The capabilities of the children are suggestive 
of the methods that should be employed in presenting 
the right kind of instruction. To meet the spiritual 
needs of each child at the time when his needs may be 
met best is both the purpose of graded Sunday school 
instruction and the reason for it. 

In the average Sunday school there are children of 

different ages. This means that there are children 

having different spiritual needs. The International 
p 



1 8 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



Graded Lessons are lessons that aim to meet these 



of one year each. The lessons for each year have 
been chosen with special reference to the interests, 
characteristics and capabilities of the pupils to whom 
the lessons are to be taught. They provide for each 
pupil year by year, at each stage of his development, 
lessons to meet his needs and help him to attain and 
live the religious life which is desirable and normal 
for him at his age. 

There are lessons for beginners. The beginners are 
the children four and five years old and the occasional 
child of six, who because of poor health, improper 
nourishment, or because of home environment and 
training has developed slowly and is similar to the 
five-year-old child in capabilities and mentality. 

At about six years of age the average child enters 
the primary department of the secular school. This 
means new interests and experiences, a rapidly increas- 
ing fund of ideas, greater ability to understand and to 
act, and more definite responsibilities. The child is 
entering upon that state of development known as 
middle childhood. It is at this time that he is pro- 
moted from the beginners' to the primary department 
of the Sunday school. He remains in the primary de- 
partment until after he has passed his eighth birthday 
and is approaching or has had his ninth birthday when 



The 

International 
Graded Lessons 



needs. 

The lessons of the International 
Course are arranged in units or courses 



p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 19 

he is promoted to the junior department. The pupils 
in the primary department are therefore the six, seven, 
and eight-year-old children. For these children there 
are special lessons called the Primary Graded Lessons. 
In addition to the beginners' and primary lessons the 
International Graded Lessons include lessons for 
juniors, children of approximately nine, ten, eleven, 
and twelve years of age: lessons for the pupils from 
thirteen to sixteen or the intermediates; and lessons 
for seniors. 

It must be remembered that the ages as herein stated 
are only approximate, for it is not primarily the age 
of the pupil that determines the lessons that are to be 
taught him, but his development and needs. In a 
beginners' department there might be several children 
of retarded development who would be six years of 
age. In the primary there might be pupils five years 
of age equaling the six-year-old children in develop- 
ment and pupils nine and ten not surpassing the normal 
eight-year-old children in capabilities, and similarly 
in other departments the ages of the pupils might 
vary. 

The lessons for these different ages or grades of 
pupils are called International for the reason that the 
outlines of the lessons are issued by a lesson commit- 
tee called the International Lesson Committee. 

For further information about the lessons of this 

course see "General Manual on the Introduction and 

L'se of the International Graded Lessons." and the 
p 



2o INTRODUCTION AND USE 

chapter, The International Graded Lessons and How 
they Came to Us. 

References 

The International Lesson System. The History of 
Its Origin and Development. lohn Richard Samper, 
D.D. 

Recent Progress in Child Study, Child-Welfare 
Magazine, February, 19 14. 

Preservation versus The Rescue of the Child, John 
T. McFarland, D.D. 

Psychological Principles of Education, Herman 
Harrell Horne. 

The Graded Sunday School in Principles and Prac- 
tice, Henry H. Meyer. 



The Sunday school is set for the recognition and 
defense of the spiritual rights of the child, and for 
his religious instruction and training. 

John T. McFarland. 



CHAPTER II 



WHY SPECIAL LESSONS FOR 
PRIMARY PUPILS 



21 



CHAPTER II 



Why Special Lessons for Primary Pupils 

The child of primary age is a child spiritually just 
as he is physically and mentally, and has spiritual 
The Child the needs peculiar to his stage of develop- 
Reason for ment. This is the first and great rea- 
Special Lessons SQn w j^ T there s i lou id b e special lessons 

for pupils of primary age. All other reasons will be 
found to be dependent upon this. 

The child of six, seven, and eight years of age needs 
to know God in all the ways that he is capable of know- 
The Needs of i n g him. He needs to be brought into 
the Child of conscious relations with God as the 
Primary Age Creator and Father, with Christ as the 
Saviour, and to be helped to live in these relationships. 
He needs to know what duties he owes to others and 
to himself, and to be helped to perform them. More- 
over the characteristics and interests of middle child- 
hood are such that they make it both necessary and 
possible for the child's spiritual needs to be met by 
suitable religious and biblical instruction, as for ex- 
ample. 

Fear is stronger in the younger than in the older 

23 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



child and so is his readiness to believe what you tell 

Characteristics him ' Hence the °PP or tunity is greater 
That Are with the younger than with the older 

Opportunities child for giving him a sense of the all 

for Religious pervading care of God. The younger 
Instruction \ r • 

child has a tar greater interest in na- 
ture than has the older child, hence the opportunity is 
greater with the younger child to give a contact with 
nature which will enable him to clarify his conceptions 
of God. Because he is more suggestible and imitative 
than the older child, the opportunity is greater for 
directing his activities, for fixing his habits of thought 
and action, and for giving him ideas of right and 
wrong. 

It is not difficult to understand that the child of 
primary age has spiritual needs which may be met best 
by lessons chosen especially to meet them. It is a little 
more difficult to understand why these lessons should 
be graded. 

Children of primary age are in the same stage of 
development — middle childhood — hence it would seem 
as if one lesson might serve for all. 

Mma^Letsons The fact is that the six-year-old chil- 
dren and the children equalling the 
normal six-year-old child in development, are just 
entering upon middle childhood. The children of eight 
years of age and those of similar development are 
passing from middle childhood to the next stage known 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



2 5 



as later childhood. This is where we find the junior 
boys and girls. 

Between the children just entering upon middle 
childhood and those passing out from it are other 
children. We speak of them as the seven-year-old 
children. This group might include children six years 
of age and eight and even nine-year-old children, but 
whatever their age they would equal the normal seven- 
year-old child in mental development, in capabilities 
for love and action, and in the secular school would 
be found in the same grade, that known as the second 
year or grade. 

Children of approximately six years of age,, of 
approximately seven years of age, of approximately 
eight years of age are unlike in capabilities and in the 
degree of intensity of certain instincts, characteristics, 
and interests. We find confirmation of this statement 
in the fact that these children are not in the same year 
or grade in the secular school, but are found in three 
grades : first, second, and third. Therefore, if these 
children have different interests and are unlike in 
development they must have different needs. These 
needs are to be met best not by lessons chosen for 
primary pupils as a class but by lessons for each pri- 
mary year or grade, of which in the Sunday school 
there should also be three — first, second, and third. 
References 

Fundamentals of Child Study, Edwin A. Kirk- 
patrick. 

p 



26 INTRODUCTION AND USE 

The Pupil and the Teacher, Luther A. Weigle. 
Talks to Teachers on Psychology, William James. 
A Chart of Childhood, Edward P. St. John. 
The Church School, Walter S. Athearn. 



The needs of the child have been called "God's 
offers of opportunity." When they are regarded in 
this way the meeting of the child's needs in the way 
that is best becomes not only the teacher's obligation 
but privilege. M. T. 



p 



CHAPTER III 

THE PRIMARY LESSONS OF THE 
INTERNATIONAL COURSE OF 
GRADED LESSONS 



P 



27 



Used by permission 
OXE OF THE CHILD'S INTERESTS IS NATURE 



CHAPTER III 



The Primary Lessons of the Ixterxatioxal 
Course of Graded Lessons 

The needs of pupils of primary age are to be met 

best not by one lesson but by three grades of lessons — 

lessons for six-year-old, lessons for 

The Primary ^ seven-year-old, and lessons for eight- 
Lessons a Series 

of Lessons year-old children, r or this reason the 

primary lessons of the International 
Course of Graded Lessons are graded and include 
first, second, and third year lessons. 

The first year lessons have been chosen for teaching 
to children approximately six years of age, the second 
year lessons to children approximately seven years of 
age, and the third year lessons to children approxi- 
mately eight years old. The aim of the primary les- 
sons is "to lead the child to know the heavenly Father, 
and to inspire within him the desire to live as God's 
child." 

The lessons of the primary series are not a course 
of study in themselves. They are part of a closely 
Part of a graded and progressive course or 

Course of system that provides lessons for each 

study year of the pupil's life from four to 

twenty-one. For the beginnings of this course one 

29 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



must look to the lessons of the beginners' series, and 
for the end to those of the senior series. * 

To understand the purpose and scope of the primary 
lessons some knowledge of the beginners' lessons is 

necessary. The purpose of the begin- 
The Beginnings , 1 (( - . , « , M - 

of the Course ners l essons ls to l ea( l the little child 

to the Father," for ''the finest service 
one can render to a little child is to lead him to a knowl- 
edge and love of God." 

In proceeding to their purpose, the beginners' les- 
sons begin where the child's life begins and where his 
strongest interests are, that is, in the home. The rea- 
son for this is that "the normal child looks out at life 
from the shelter of his mother's arms, and it is through 
her loving care that he can learn of a greater care,"f 
the care of God as a Father. 

Other lessons help the child to find that the food 
provided by his father and mother, and the clothing 
they furnish are gifts from the heavenly Father. They 
help him too to begin to think of his parents as God's 
gifts. 

Other lessons teach the child to appreciate the care 
of the heavenly Father for birds and animals. Other 
lessons teach God's care for people and help the child 
"to apply to himself the verse, 'He careth for you' 
and to form the conclusion 'God is love.' " 



* See Appendix A. 

t The Beginners' Teacher's Text Book, First Year, Part I, page 30. 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



3i 



Added lessons seek to win the cooperation of the 
child in doing right acts, in being helpful, kind, and 
loving, in speaking to God and giving him praise, in 
being obedient, in fulfilling all the duties and obliga- 
tions of the very young child. It is said: "Children 
can do right, and so feel rightly, before they can think 
rightly. It is through obedience to the commands of 
God, and feeling our dependence upon God, that chil- 
dren finally come to think rightly about God."* 

As there are two years of beginners' lessons, the 
child that comes into the primary from the beginners' 
Beginners' department, will have a certain knowl- 

Lessons edge of and a familiarity with Bible 

Preparatory to stories and verses. He will also have 
a trust in and a love for God as the 
heavenly Father. The beginners' lessons may be ex- 
pected to help the child "to understand that everything 
that goes on in this world is due to the initiative and 
the continued interest of God : that the loving interest 
of God extends even to inanimate nature, of which 
trees and grass and flowers are a symbol : that man is 
in a special sense a child of God; that God loves to 
have, and, in a sense, needs his help : that people are 
bound together in peculiarly dear relations, because 
they are all children of God."f 

The first year primary lessons do not begin with the 



* Psychological Principles of Education, Herman Harrell Home, page 345. 
t Quoted in the Beginners' Teacher's Text Book, First Year, Part I, page 30. 
P 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



home as do the beginners' lessons but with another of 
The First Year the child's interests. His special in- 
Primary terest in nature leads to the desire to 
Lessons know by whom or by whose power all 
things have been made. The first lessons teach that 
"in the beginning God created the heavens and the 
earth" and that in a special sense God is the Father of 
everyone in all the world. Following lessons lead the 
child to perceive the power of God as still active, creat- 
ing, providing for and watching over the world that 
he has made, his creatures and his people. Other 
lessons by the suggestiveness of their themes and sub- 
ject matter lead to the expressing of thanksgiving for 
care and to the showing of love to God. 

There are lessons that teach the little fearful child 
that wherever he is God is taking care of him. There 
are lessons to help him to trust and obey God. There 
are lessons that lead him to desire to speak to God 
and that teach him when and where to pray. And 
there are lessons that have for their purpose the lead- 
ing of the child to do certain right acts that by doing 
them he may come to know right from wrong and 
desire to do what he knows is right. 

The purpose or aim of the first year lessons is "to 
show forth God's power, love and care, and to awaken 
within the child responsive love, trust and obedience. " 
From this statement of the aim, the advance, or 
progress of the first year primary lessons over the be- 
ginners' lessons is apparent. 

p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



The aim of the second year lessons is "to build upon 
the teachings of the first year ( i ) by showing ways in 
which children may express their love, 
Ye^L^sTons trust > and obedience; (2) by showing 
Jesus, the Saviour, in his love and work 
for men; and (3) by showing how helpers of Jesus 
and others learn to do God's will." 

The seven-year-old child can do more than perform 
fhe acts you suggest or direct him to do. He is begin- 
ning to be able to perceive and to imitate the idea be- 
hind the act. The second year lessons recognize this 
developing ability of the child. They tell of Jesus 
"'who went about doing good," helping and being kind, 
that the child may respond to the ideas given, may 
show kindness to some one and learn what it means to 
"love one another.'' 

The second year lessons give the child a fund of 
ideas concerning what is right. They do this by the 
truths they teach, by the activities they suggest, and 
by the right acts to which they inspire him. The 
second year lessons also teach in a definite way that 
right acts are God's will for a child. 

To the eight-year-old child who has come to know 
right from wrong through experience in doing and in 
failing to do right, and who from in- 
Year Lessons struction received at home, at school, 
and Sunday school has a certain fund 
of established ideas of what he should do, the third 



34 



INTRODUCTION 



AND USE 



year lessons give the motive for learning and doing 
God's will. 

These lessons tell of God's love as expressed in 
Jesus. They tell of Jesus as the Saviour that every 
child who is ready and able to understand may come 
to know Jesus as his friend, his helper at all times, his 
strength and his personal Saviour. Not all children 
of third year primary age come to the knowledge of 
Jesus as a personal Saviour, but they may love him, 
and desire to follow and obey him and to be God's 
child. 

Briefly stated the aim of the third year lessons is : 
"To build upon the work of the first and second years 
by telling (i) about people who chose to do God's 
will; (2) how Jesus, by his life and words, death and 
resurrection, revealed the Father's love and will for 
us; (3) such stories as will make a strong appeal to 
the child and arouse within him a desire to choose and 
to do that which God requires of him. 7 '' The third 
year lessons are also preparatory to the junior lessons. 
These have as their aim "To lead the child to become 
a doer of the word, and to bring him into conscious 
relations with the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. " 

Step by step from the time the child enters the 

primarv department until he leaves it 
The Aim of the , « . J . . 11 

Primary Series the lessons seek t0 meet hls needs and 

to develop in him the religious life of 
which he is capable. 



CHAPTER IV 

CONDITIONS AND ARRANGE- 
MENTS FOR TEACHING THE 
PRIMARY GRADED LESSONS 



35 



CHAPTER IV 

Conditions axd Arrangements for Teaching the 
Primary Graded Lessons 

The primary graded lessons have been chosen for 
teaching to pupils of three different ages or grades, 
hence to secure the best results from 

Requisite ^ e use °* l essons they should be 

taught to the pupils for whom they 
have been especially chosen. (See chapter III. I From 
this it follows that a first requisite for the teaching 
of the lessons is a graded primary department. 

By a graded primary department is meant one in 
which the pupils are so classified or grouped together 
A Graded ^ iat P U P^ S of the first year or grade 

Primary are in one class or group of classes, that 

Department pupils of the second year or grade are 
in another class or group of classes, and that pupils of 
the third year or grade are in a third class or group 
of classes. In such a department a class teacher is in 
charge of each class. For the approximate age of the 
pupils in each grade see chapter II. 



The ideal arrangement for a large primary depart- 
ment is a class room for each grade. In a department 
that is not so large a satisfactory arrangement is one 



38 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



large room in which the primary pupils assemble for 
worship and two smaller rooms in which the pupils of 

two grades go for the lesson teaching. 
The Ideal *r % a ■ • 

Arrangement The P u P lls of one grade remain m the 

large room for their lesson, and three 
class rooms for the three grades are thus secured. 

When a class room is available for each grade the 
lesson is taught by one teacher to all the pupils in the 
room, or is taught by class teachers, each teacher teach- 
ing a small group of pupils. 

In the average Sunday school only one room is 
available for the primary department, and in this room 
When One ^ e three years or grades must find 
Room Is accommodation. Sometimes separation 

Available j s securec } f r the grades by means of 

screens or curtains. Sometimes curtains or screens 
are so used as to secure comparative separation for 
each class or small group of pupils. Usually the pupils 
of like age and abilities are grouped in classes, with a 
teacher in charge of each class to teach the lessons of 
the grade to which the pupils of the class belong. 

Separation for classes is desirable and sometimes a 
necessity in teaching young children. The teacher 
faces a competition of interests. There are distrac- 
tions of sight and sound on every hand, but the child is 
attracted far more by what he sees than by what he 
hears. He wants to see what the teachers and the pupils 
in other classes are doing. He wants to know who 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



39 



everyone is that enters or passes in or out of the class 
room. It is difficult so long as the child can see about 
the room to hold his attention. Therefore to get rid 
of all distractions that appeal to the eye is an aid in 
teaching. It is for this reason that separation of 
classes by means of screens, curtains, or class rooms is 
. advocated. 

When classes must be placed so close to each other 
that it is difficult for the teacher and pupils of one 
class not to disturb the teacher and pupils of the next 
class or classes it is advisable to assign not more than 
eight pupils to a class. When conditions do not neces- 
sitate crowding classes, the number of pupils in a class 
may depend upon the ability of the teacher to hold the 
interest of the pupils, to give them individual attention 
and to direct their activities, that is, their handwork, 
home work, and the like. Eight pupils to a class, how- 
ever, is in most primary departments a good working 
number. 



A separate room for the primary department is not 
possible in all schools. In some schools the beginners' 
When a an< ^ P r i mar 3 r pupils, or the primary and 

Separate Room junior pupils, must meet in the same 
Is Not room. In very small schools it is not 

unusual for the primary pupils to meet 
with all the other pupils of the school in the church 
auditorium. 

Whether or not a separate room is possible for the 



4 o INTRODUCTION AND USE 



primary department, graded primary classes may be 
formed in any school. It is advisable for these classes 
to be accommodated in the same corner of the room 
or in the same bank of pews, but when such an arrange- 
ment is not possible and the primary classes must be 
scattered about the room the pupils in the classes may 
be grouped or graded according to age and ability.. 
Such a grouping is all that is necessary for the teach- 
ing of the graded primary lessons, for the lessons are 
adaptable to any form of departmental organization. 

For suggestions for introducing the graded primary 
lessons into large or small schools, into regularly or- 
ganized departments, or into graded primary classes 
see chapters V and VI. 



The ideal always seems impossible to the hard- 
headed but blind practicality of the world; but in the 
end the ideal is the only thing that is possible, for 
God is in it. 

John T. McFarland. 



p 



CHAPTER V 

PREPARING TO INTRODUCE 

THE LESSONS 



JRim of the Course 

the Heavenly Father 




and to inspire with in him a 
desire to live as Gods child. 

' Mcii'cr from root 
mh spiritual from iioiuraiqiacSe bis r <^ 
in all our life." 

THE AIM OF THE PRIMARY LESSONS 



CHAPTER V 



Preparing to Introduce the Lessons 

To introduce the primary lessons or to superintend 
the department where they are taught a full and de- 
The Primary tailed knowledge of the lessons is neces- 
Superintendent's sary. One cannot teach or help others 
Preparation ^ teach what one does not know. 

It will be found helpful to study the primary lessons 
with reference first to their part in fulfilling the pur- 
pose of the International Graded Les- 
A First Step _; A 

sons as a course. lo do this prepare 

a statement similar to the following: 

The purpose of the International Graded Lessons 
is to meet the spiritual needs of the pupil stage by stage 
in his development. 

Broadly stated these needs are : 

To know God as he has revealed himself to us in his 
word, in nature, in the heart of man, and in Christ. 

To exercise toward God the Father, and his Son 
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, trust, obedience, 
and worship. 

To know and do our duty to others. 

To know and do our duty to ourselves. 

With this statement before you, consider the aim 
of the primary lessons. It is to lead the child to know 

43 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



the heavenly Father, and to inspire within him a desire 
to live as God's child. To accomplish this aim the 
primary lessons would need to help the child to begin 
to know God in the ways that he has revealed himself 
to us. The primary lessons would need to help the 
child to begin to exercise trust, obedience, and worship 
toward God and Christ. They would need to help the 
child to begin to know and do his duty to others and 
to himself. The primary lessons should be studied 
with view to determining whether or not they are 
adapted to help the child in all these ways. 

To make this study, read the aim of the primary 
lessons for each year, the titles of the themes and 
lessons, and the memory verses of the lessons for each 
year. As you read, try to decide what each lesson is 
adapted to help the child to begin to do. In other 
words, study each lesson for the truth it contains for 
the child, and for the relation of this truth first, to 
the theme under which the lesson occurs, second, to 
the aim of the lessons for the year, and third, to needs 
of the child as they are stated under the purpose of 
the International Graded Lesson Course. 

To be concrete, turn to the first year lessons, the 
first theme and first lesson. Read the title of the 
theme, God the Creator and Father. Read the title 
of the first lesson and its memory verse. The title is, 
God the Creator of All Things. The memory verse 
is, In the beginning God created the heavens and the 

earth. What truth does this lesson contain for the 

p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 45 

child? "What is it adapted to do for the child? Does 
it not tell of God as Creator? (See theme/) Will it 
not help the child to begin to perceive the pozver of 
Gad? - (See Aim for the year.) Will it not help the 
child to begin to know God as lie lias revealed himself 
to us in his Word and in nature? (See purpose of the 
Graded Lesson Course.) 

A similar study should be made of each lesson of 
the primary series. If possible to do it the lessons for 
one year should be studied at one sitting that the rela- 
tion of one lesson to another, of one theme to another 
may be perceived. 

A knowledge of the construction of the lessons, of 
methods of teaching them, of the teacher's part, of 

A Second Step the ^' lVs P art , ° f the equipment for 
teaching, and of all the details neces- 
sary for the superintendent to know is to be obtained 
from the text books. The second step therefore in 
preparing to introduce the lessons or to superintend 
the department in which the lessons are taught is a 
mastery of the Forewords in the teacher's text books. 
These Forewords are a manual of instruction on the 
use of the lessons. 

A study of the lessons as if for teaching is a third 

step in the superintendent's preparation. In making 

. m . a ^ this studv some superintendents studv 

A Third Step 1 ~ 1 

the first year lessons and teach or suo- 

stitute in first year classes one year, study the second 



4 6 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



year lessons and teach or substitute in second year 
classes the next year and so on. Other superintendents 
study the text hooks for the three years simultaneously, 
and are ready each Sunday to substitute in a first, 
second, or third year class according to the need. 

The Primary Teacher's Text Books are a necessary 
part of the superintendent's equipment. Two books 
that are a valuable aid to the superintendent in carry- 
ing on the work of the department are, Primary Lesson 
Detail and A Year of Primary Programs. 

A knowledge of the purpose and construction of the 
primary lessons and a mastery of the lesson detail is 
Why necessary first, to secure the proper use 

Preparation of the lessons, that is, to assign to each 

b y tne grade the lessons for that grade. It is 

Superintendent , i- , ,1 i 

r necessary, second, to direct the work 

of the class teachers, to train them for work, to answer 
their questions, to help them meet their problems. It 
is necessary, third, to watch the progress made by the 
pupils, and to supplement and strengthen the lesson 
teaching. The lesson teaching is to be strengthened 
by the review and drill of memory verses, the retelling 
of lesson stories by the pupils, by conversation with the 
pupils about their lessons, by activities that are expres- 
sions of the lesson truths, and through the worship. 

The class teacher's preparation should be similar to 

the superintendent's. The class teacher should know 

the aim of the primary lessons and the aim of the 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSOXS 



47 



lessons for each year, and be able to state these aims 
The Class at an )~ ti me - The teacher should under- 

Teacher's stand the relation of the primary les- 

Preparation sons to ^ e p ur p 0se f the International 

Graded Lessons as a course. To acquire this knowledge 
the class teacher should do the work outlined for the 
superintendent in steps one and two. 

The class teacher should make a general study of 
the Forewords in each of the text books that the rela- 
tion of one year's lessons to another may be clearly 
in mind. 

It is most helpful when the general study of the 
Forewords, and the study of the aim of the primary 
lessons as outlined in steps one and two for the super- 
intendent may be carried on under the direction of 
the superintendent in a training class, composed of the 
teachers of the primary department. Such a study 
might be made in three meetings of two hours each or 
six meetings of one hour each. It is the general prepa- 
ration that every teacher should make before becoming 
a regular or assigned teacher of a particular grade. 

The third step in the class teacher's preparation 
should be the mastery of the lessons of the grade or 

Preparation for >~ ear that he or she is to teach - This 
Teaching in should include, first, a general study 
a Particular f the lessons for the year, and, second, 
the special preparation of each lesson 

week bv week. 



48 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



One plan is to read the text books for the year be- 
fore making a study of the lessons for teaching. An- 
other plan is to read Part I before making a study of 
the lessons of Part I, Part II before making a study 
of the lessons of Part II, and so on. 

In the study of a particular lesson the discussion 
of the theme under which the lesson occurs should be 
read. The preceding lesson should be reviewed and 
the following lesson should be read. A knowledge 
of the preceding and following lesson is absolutely 
necessary to a thorough preparation of a given lesson. 
The text book is to be used as an aid or guide to the 
teacher. The Bible passage given as the lesson ma- 
terial is always to be studied and as large a use as is 
possible should be made of Bible Commentaries. The 
wider and deeper the teacher's knowledge the clearer 
and truer will be the lesson presentation. 

The final step before introducing the lessons is the 

grading of the pupils. In some primary departments 

this is a formidable task. Children 
The Preparation n , . 1 1 1 

the "Pupils nave oeen assigned to classes because 

their parents wished them to be with 

certain teachers or because they themselves wished to 

be with certain friends. Teachers have come to look 

upon their pupils as their special possession. Plans 

that tend to separate teachers and pupils are apt to be 

regarded with great disfavor by some teachers and 

sometimes by parents, 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



In the primary department where conditions are un- 
favorable for the introduction of the lessons the win- 
ning of the interest and cooperation of 
Cooperation - , ... . ~ 

Necessary teachers and pupils is necessary. On 

the part of the teachers their interest 
and cooperation are to he won through a study of the 
purpose of the graded lessons and the aim of the pri- 
mary lessons in particular. (See "Superintendent's 
Preparation'' steps one and two and the "Class 
Teacher's Preparation. ") There is not a teacher who 
is a true disciple of Christ and a lover of little chil- 
dren who will stand in the way of the child when the 
"better way" for educating him religiously is fully 
understood. To help the teacher to understand is the 
first essential. 

The interest and cooperation of the pupils are to be 
won through the idea of grading. The average child 
rejoices in the thought of making progress, of being 
promoted from grade to grade, of graduating, of 
doing things in Sunday school as they are done in the 
day school. Present the idea of grading and graded 
lessons with enthusiasm and conviction and the chil- 
dren will be won. 

It is a mistaken idea that children of primary age 
are so attached to their teachers that they will leave 
the Sunday school if they are given other teachers. 
Children love their Sunday school teacher, it is true. 
It is also true that their love is great enough to love 

more than one teacher. Children are accustomed in 

p 



5° 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



the day school to pass from grade to grade and from 
the care of one teacher to another. It is seldom in 
the primary department of the Sunday school that 
there is unhappiness that lasts longer than a Sunday 
or two when children are given a new teacher. AYhen 
there is a strong and continued aversion to a teacher 
on the part of the child he would better be assigned 
to a different class. Most often it happens that the 
teacher the child dislikes at first, just because she is 
new and her ways are strange, is the teacher he comes 
finally to regard with the greatest affection. There is 
really little to fear or dread in presenting the idea of 
grading and graded lessons to children. 

In primary departments where the pupils are classi- 
fied according to age or to their standing or grade in 
the secular school the pupils are ready for the lessons. 

For the problem in the small school see chapter VII. 



Neither are capacity for training nor ability to use 
effectively the best methods of religious instruction 
restricted to any section of the country or to any 
type of school. 

Hexry H. Meyer. 



p 



CHAPTER VI 



HOW TO PROCEED IN INTRO- 
DUCING THE LESSONS 



CHAPTER VI 
How to Proceed in Introducing the Lessons 

The Primary Graded Lessons include first, second, 
and third year lessons. 

, - The first year lessons have been 

A Restatement J ■ 

selected tor teaching to pupils oi ap- 
proximately six years of age who are in a first year 
class or grade in the secular or day school. 

The second year lessons have been selected with 
special reference to needs, interests, and capabilities of 
pupils approximately seven years of age who in the 
day school are in a second year class or grade. 

Similarly the third year lessons have been selected 
for teaching to pupils of approximately eight years 
of age who in the day school are in a third year class 
or grade.* 

In the introduction of the lessons the end to be kept 

in view is the proper use of the lessons. This is to 

teach the lessons of each grade to the 
The Proper Use r - - \ , , 

of the Lessons P^P 1 ^ tor whom the lessons have been 

selected, and thus to secure to each 

pupil lessons adapted to aid him in his present spiritual 

and religious life. (See chapters II, III, and IV.) 

In the primary department that is or may be graded 

* See chapter I for the explanation of what is meant by six, seven, and eight- 
year-old children and the overlapping of ages that may occur within a grade. 



54 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



the simplest procedure "is to substitute the Graded 

Primary Lessons for whatever other 
On Introducing . - - 1 , • ,i 

the Lessons lessons have been taught m the primary 

department and to have the first, 
second, and third year lessons taught simultaneously. 
The best time to make this substitution is the first 
Sunday in October. 

In a primary department that is partially graded 
and where better grading must be accomplished gradu- 
ally, it might be found practicable to introduce the 
Primary Graded Lessons one year at a time. 

By a graded primary department is meant one in 
which the pupils are so classified or grouped together 

Introducing the that a11 first >' ear P u P ils are in one class 
Lessons in a or group of classes, all second year 
Graded Primary p U pjl s are in another class or group of 

Department , 1 n ,1 • j m 

classes, and all third year pupils are in 

a third class or group of classes. (See chapter IV, 
Conditions and Arrangements for Teaching the Pri- 
mary Graded Lessons.) 

When a primary department is or may be so graded 
with a class teacher in charge of each class, the depart- 
ment is ready for the lessons. The first year lessons 
may be taught the pupils of approximately six years 
of age who are in the first year class or classes. The 
second year lessons may be taught the pupils of ap- 
proximately seven years of age who are in the second 

year class or classes, and the third year lessons may 

p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



55 



be taught the pupils of approximately eight years of 
age who are in the third year class or classes. It is 
taken for granted that the teachers who will teach 
these lessons will have prepared themselves for teach- 
ing them. (See chapter V, Preparing to Introduce 
the Lessons.) 

By a partially graded primary department is meant 

one in which there are no beginners' pupils (children 

t x_ j . . « under six) and no junior pupils (boys 
Introducing the 7 4 111 

Lessons in a an d girls over eight ) but where the 

Partially primary pupils (the six, seven, and 

Graded Primary e i g ht-year-old children) have been 
Department . « 1 , 

taught the same lesson, have not been 

grouped in classes, and have not received instruction 
from class teachers but have been taught by the super- 
intendent of the department. 

In such a department where the grading is to be 
accomplished gradually, the simplest way to introduce 
the graded primary lessons is to introduce one year's 
lessons at a time. In accordance with this method 
the superintendent of the department or some teacher 
teaches the first year lessons to all the pupils of the 
department. While doing this he or she begins to 
grade the department, to find class teachers for the 
different classes, and to train the teachers with a 
view to helping them to be read)' the next year to 
teach the first year lessons to the pupils that enter the 
primary from the beginners' department. 



56 INTRODUCTION AXD USE 



The first step in grading such a department is to 
discover what pupils are of the same age»and in the 
same grade in the day school. The next step is to 
classify or group the pupils into first, second, and third 
year classes. The third step is to find and assign class 
teachers to these classes and to define or explain what 
each teacher's duties are to be during the year. The 
teachers should make a thorough and detailed study of 
the primary lessons. ( See chapter V.) Occasionally 
they should be asked to teach the lesson for the day 
to their own pupils. It would be well if toward the 
end of the year each teacher should teach a lesson to 
all the pupils as one class. Each week the teacher's 
duties should be to direct the retelling of lesson stories 
by the pupils, and to review and drill the memory 
verse their pupils learned at home during the week. 
If handwork is done the class teachers should direct 
the handwork under the supervision of the superin- 
tendent. 

The following year teachers will be ready to teach 
the first year lessons to the pupils that come into the 
primary from the beginners' department. If teachers 
are available who are competent to teach the second 
year lessons,, the second year lessons may be taught 
to the second and third year pupils by class teachers. 
If such teachers are not available the superintendent 
of the department would better teach the second year 
lessons to the second and third year pupils as one class 
and continue the training of second year teachers. 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 57 



If the superintendent teaches the second year lessons 
to the second and third year pupils as one class, some 
separation should be provided for the first year pupils 
and their teachers. It might be that the first year 
pupils could be sent into the church auditorium for 
the lesson or the second and third year pupils could 
be taken into the church for the lesson teaching. If 
nothing better can be done screens or curtains should 
be used. 

The teachers that are in training should make a 
study of the second year lessons and text books. They 
should be responsible for the review and drill of 
memory verses and correlated lessons, and for the 
handwork. Their training should also include practice 
in teaching. 

The next year the teachers that have had a year's 
experience in teaching the first year lessons will be 
better prepared to teach these lessons. Unless there is 
some good reason why they should not do so, they 
should remain in their grade and teach the first year 
lessons to the new pupils that come from the begin- 
ners' department. 

The teachers that during the year just past made 
preparation for teaching the second year lessons 
should teach these lessons to the pupils that are pro- 
moted from first to second year classes. The question 
that remains to be answered is : To whom and by 
whom shall the third year lessons be taught ? 

The third year lessons should be taught to the pupils 
p 



58 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



that are promoted from second to third year classes. 
It is probable that by the time for introducing the third 
year lessons a sufficient number of teachers will be 
available for the teaching of the three years of the 
primary lessons as they are intended to be taught, 
which is simultaneously by grades. Thus the partially 
graded department becomes fully graded. (For the 
class-room idea see chapter IV.) 

The ungraded primary department is that in which 
pupils four and five years old and possibly younger, 
The Ungraded pupils six, seven, and eight years of 
Primary age, and pupils that are older meet in 

Department ^ e same room a t ne time, and are 

taught the same lesson by one teacher. 

One of three conditions is usually the reason for 
the ungraded primary department. First, there is 
opposition on the part of some one to a graded de- 
partment; second, the number of teachers required 
for a graded department are not available ; or, third, 
the value of such a department and its opportunities 
for teaching are not rightly understood. 

When there is opposition to a graded department 
or a lack of understanding as to its value and oppor- 
tunities the situation requires tact and consideration 
of others. When the teachers that are required for 
such a department do not seem to be available it is 
time to begin the grading in hope that teachers may 

and will be found. Whatever the reason may be for 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSOXS 



59 



the ungraded department it is not sufficiently valid 
to prevent the grading of the department in thought, 
on paper, and in the seating of the children by grades 
or classes. The doing of these three things frequently 
leads to graded instruction. 

The grading of an ungraded primary department 
may be started in one of several ways, (i) Give to 
First Steps in each pupil a card with the request to 
Grading Such write or to have written for him his 
a Department mme ^ ^ date of his birthdayj that is 

the month and date of month, his present age, and if 
he attends school, his grade or year in school. Ask to 
have the cards or notes returned the next Sunday. 

With this information as a foundation for work, 
begin to classify the pupils in thought and on paper. 
Group pupils of the same age and grade in the secular 
school. The next step is to think out or arrange for 
the seating of these pupils in the class room. To this 
end it will be found helpful to draw a diagram of the 
primary room and to indicate the rows of chairs or 
the position for each class or group of pupils. 

When the preliminary work of grading has been 
accomplished, determine the method to be followed in 
reseating the pupils. One plan is to meet each pupil 
as he comes in and assign him to a seat. Another 
plan is the following : Permit the pupils as they come 
in to take the seats they have been accustomed to take. 
At some convenient time, before the opening exercises. 



6o INTRODUCTION AND USE 



before the teaching of the lesson, or after the lesson, 
explain that it is your desire for the pupils that are 
in the same grade in the day school to sit together. 
When this explanation has been made ask pupils 
occupying the seats you have planned for the youngest 
children to pass to one side of the room and call for 
the pupils who are to have these seats to come and take 
them. Proceed in a similar manner with the next 
group or row of seats until all are in their right 
places. 

If there is dissatisfaction on the part of the pupils, 
or if later there is difficulty in training the children 
to take and keep their right places, make the new 
arrangement pleasing. Provide colored ribbons, 
braids, or crepe paper, one color for each grade. Show 
these ribbons and explain that one color is for each 
class or grade and permit the pupils of first one class 
and then another (beginning with either the youngest 
or oldest pupils or with the girls and then the boys) 
to choose a color for their class. Fasten the class 
color to the first or to the first and last seats of each 
class to help the children remember their seats and 
class colors. If desirable give a tiny knot or bow of 
ribbon of his class color to each child to wear. The 
suggestion for class colors is of course only a device 
for making the new and unaccustomed attractive. It 
need be adopted only when it is necessary or advisable. 

(2) A second method that may be followed in 

grading a primary department is to write the names 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



61 



of all the pupils on a large card, sheet of paper, or 
blackboard. Some Sunday when the names are ready 
call upon each pupil to tell which is his grade or class 
in the secular school. Under or opposite each pupil's 
name, write down each pupil's day school year or 
grade, and with this information proceed to grade and 
reseat the pupils. 

(3) When the number of pupils in the primary de- 
partment is small a much simpler method may be 
followed. All pupils not attending school may be 
asked to stand and to pass to chairs which in the 
thought of the one grading the department have been 
reserved for these young children. Xext all pupils 
who in the day school are in first year classes, First 
Year B or First Year A, may stand and pass to chairs 
reserved for them, the First Year B's together and 
the First Year A's together. A similar method may 
be followed with the pupils that are older until pupils 
of like age and abilities are sitting together in groups 
or classes. The next step will be to assign class 
teachers and arrange for the lesson teaching, 

After the grading of the pupils has been accom- 
plished in thought and in the seating of the pupils by 

grades or classes the next step is to 
The Assigning . ' - - . , 

of Teachers assign teachers to ditlerent classes. 

It may be that teachers can be found 

almost at one time for all the classes. It may be that 

first a teacher for one class and then a teacher for 



62 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



another class will be found and that to find teachers 
for all the classes will require time. 

The children under six years of age are the ones 
that need the most supervision and assistance. These 
children should from the start be called beginners. 
The teacher assigned to these children should be one 
who has the ability and willingness to become a be- 
ginners' teacher and the superintendent of the begin- 
ners' department. As soon as it is expedient or possi- 
ble the pupils of beginners' age should be taught the 
lessons of the Beginners' Series of Graded Lessons. 

The other pupils that equally with the beginners 
need the help of class teachers are the boys and girls, 
nine years of age and older. As soon as teachers can 
be found for these pupils they should be grouped in 
classes and should be taught the lessons of the Junior 
Series of Graded Lessons. 

If the conditions are such that the beginners and 
junior pupils must be accommodated in the same room 
with the primary pupils, some separation should if 
possible be secured for the beginners and juniors dur- 
ing the lesson period. The separation may be accom- 
plished by means of screens, by the use of curtains, 
or by having the pupils pass to some other room for 
the lesson teaching. 

After the teachers have been found for the begin- 
ners and junior pupils the next effort should be to find 
teachers for the primary pupils and to introduce the 

Primary Series of Graded Lessons, 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 63 



After the grading has been accomplished and be- 
ginners' and junior classes have been formed with or 
The without separation, it may be found 

Introduction of that there are a number of first, of 

Graded Primary second, and of third year primary 
Instruction , Tr , 

classes. it competent teachers are 

available for the classes there is no reason why the 
first year lessons should not be taught the pupils in 
the first year classes, the second year lessons should 
not be taught the pupils in the second year classes and 
the third year lessons should not be taught by the 
teachers of third year classes to their pupils. 

If, for example, class work has never been done in 
the primary department and the teachers are inex- 
perienced, it might be advisable to introduce one year's 
lessons at a time. See "Introducing the Lessons in a 
Partially Graded Primary Department.'' This method 
provides the better for the training of teachers. 

If the primary department is too small to make the 
forming of three classes or grades expedient the 
graded primary lessons may be introduced and taught 
in accordance with the suggestion given in chapter 
VII, The Problem of Graded Lessons in the Small 
School. 

Efficiency must be tested in the light of oppor- 
tunity. Henry H. Cope. 



? 



It is not the business of the Sunday school simply 
to instruct the more favored children who are en- 
rolled in its membership; its mission is to childhood 
universal. John T. McFarland. 

No one can claim to hold a magician's wand 
more wondrous in its influence than the teacher who 
is helping to shape the thought-w T orld in which his 
scholars live, and will continue to live. He is build- 
ing for all time. He is influencing the desires, mo- 
tives, and actions of the future. 

H. Thiselton Mark. 



64 



CHAPTER VII 

THE PROBLEM OF 
GRADED LESSONS IN THE 
SMALL SCHOOL 



65 



CHAPTER VII 



The Problem of Graded Lessoxs ix the Small 

School 

A Sunday school may be small, but if its member- 
ship includes children some provision is made for 
teaching them either in a class or in a room by them- 
selves. They may range in age from three to ten 
years, but unless the school is a graded school these 
children are taught in one class and by one teacher. 
More than one teacher of such a class has been heard 
to say, "I believe in graded lessons. I should like to 
introduce them into my department, but under present 
conditions how can I?" To answer this question is 
the purpose of this chapter. 

It is obvious that if the children's teacher is to con- 
tinue teaching all the children from three to ten, that 
the graded lessons are not usable. But there is a way 
in which the beginners', primary, and junior lessons 
may be taught in their order if three teachers are 
available for the pupils up to thirteen years of age. 
In fact, in a school having six teachers all the lessons 
from beginners to senior may be taught in the order 
in which they were intended to be taught. See Pro- 
fessor Robertson's plan and the chart, pages 70 and 71. 

Professor Robertson of Canada has formulated a 

67 

p 



68 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



plan whereby the small schools of his country may 

have the benefit of the graded lessons. 
A Plan for the T t 1 i- ,1 , ,1 • 1 
Small School e believes that there is a great value 

in a closely graded course for the large 

school and for the small school wherever it may be 

located. It is his plan that is presented. 

His schedule provides for a school having only six 
teachers. The work of these teachers and the grading 
is so arranged as to make it possible for every pupil 
in the school from five years on to have all the lessons 
in the graded course, in the order in which they were 
intended to be taught. At the start all pupils five 
years of age are in one class, known as Group A; six, 
seven, and eight in another, called Group B ; nine, ten, 
and eleven in a third, called Group C ; twelve, thirteen, 
and fourteen in a fourth, called Group D; fifteen, six- 
teen, and seventeen in a fifth, Group E; and eighteen, 
nineteen, and twenty in the sixth, Group F. To the 
five-year children Group A, the first year beginners' 
lessons are taught; to Group B, the second year pri- 
mary; to Group C, the second year junior; to Group 
D, the first year intermediate; to Group F, the third 
year senior* (See "A Graded Lesson Scheme for a 
Sunday School with Only Six Teachers.") 

This plan is continued for a year. At the end of 
the first year's work the teacher of Group A takes the 
children who come into the school at five, and keeps 
the ones she was teaching the previous year, making 

* Adapted from The Graded Lessons in the Small School, Josephine L. Baldwin. 
P 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 69 



a group containing children both five and six years of 
age. To these she teaches the second year beginners' 
lessons. The teacher of Group B keeps the pupils she 
had the preceding year whose ages will now be seven, 
eight, and nine, and the lessons taught will be the third 
year primary. The teacher of Group C keeps the same 
pupils and teaches the third year junior lessons to 
them. The teacher of Group D teaches the second 
year intermediate, of Group E the first year senior 
and the teacher of Group F the fourth year senior. 1 

The following year the teachers keep their classes 
as before, except that the teacher of Group A each 
year takes the new pupils five years of age who come 
into the school. In each case the teachers teach the 
next year's lessons. At the end of the third year the 
classes pass on to the next grade, and the teachers go 
back and begin the work of the triennium over again. 2 

By this plan the teacher of the Series A would teach 
the first and second year beginners' lessons and the 
first year primary; the teacher of Series B the second 
and third year primary and the first year junior; the 
teacher of Series C, the second, third, and fourth year 
junior; the teacher of Series D, the first, second, and 
third year intermediate; the teacher of Series E, the 
fourth year intermediate, the first and second year 
senior ; the teacher of Series F the third and fourth 
year senior and some elective adult course. 3 

!, 2 , 3 , Graded Lessons in the Small School", Josephine L. Baldvv'in. Leaflet 
sent on application. 

P 



to INTRODUCTION AND USE 



Let A, B, C, D, E, F, stand for the six teachers 

respectively. Let existing (or prospective I lesson 
courses be designated as follows : 

A Graded Lesson Scheme for a Sunday School with Only 
Six Teachers 

Ka. A year's course intended for Beginners aged 4 years. 
Kb. A second year's course intended for Beginners aged 5 years. 
I. A year's course intended for First Year Primary, age 6 years. 
II. A year's course intended for Second Year Primar}^, age 7 
years. 

III. A year's course intended for Third Year Primary, age 8 

years. 

IV. A year's course intended for First Year Junior, age 9 years. 
Y. A year's course intended for Second Year Junior, age 10 

years. 

YI. A year's course intended for Third Year Junior, age 11 
years. 

VII. A year's course intended for Fourth Year Junior, age 12 
years. 

VIII. A year's course intended for First Year Intermediate, age 

13 years. 

IX. A year's course intended for Second Year Intermediate, age 

14 years. 

X. A year's course intended for Third Year Intermediate, age 

15 years. 

XL A year's course intended for Fourth Year Intermediate, age 

16 years. 

XII. A year's course intended for First Year Senior, age 17 years. 

XIII. A year's course intended for Second Year Senior, age 18 

years. 

XIV. A year's course intended for Third Year Senior, age 19 

years. 

XY. A year's course intended for Fourth Year Senior, age 20 
years. 

XYI. Any Adult course. 

Then a permanent system, in which (ultimately) every pupil 
will get every year's work in its proper order, can be arranged as 
follows: According to this plan, a teacher remains with a particular 
group of pupils no more than three years. Pupils will not be ad- 
mitted under five years of age. 

Used by permission of Rev. J. C. Robertson, B.D., of Toronto, Canada. 
P 



OF THE GRADED LESSOXS 



GRADED LESSOX SCHEME (CHART) 



Graded Lesson Scheme for a Sunday School with Only Six Teachers 



Years 1915-1918, Etc. 


Years 1016-1919, Etc. 


Years 1017-1920; Etc. 


1 j 




3 j 


Pupils 5 years old 


Pupils 5 and 6 


Pupils 5, 6. and 7 


Lessons Ka 


Lessons Kb 


Lessons I 


Teacher A 


Teacher A 



Teacher A 


4 


g J 


6 


Pupils 6, 7, and 8 


Pupils 7» 8, and 9 


Pupils 8, 9> and 10 


Lessons II 


Lessons III 


Lessons IV 


Teacher B 


Teacher B 


Teacher B 


7 1 


8 j 


9 ! 


Pupils 9. 10. Bud 11 


Pupils 10, 11, and 12 


Pupils 11, 12, and 13 


Lessons V 


Lessons VI 


Lessons VII 


Teacher C 


Teacher C 


Teacher C 


10 




12 1 


Pupils 12. 13, and 14 


Pupils 13. 14. and 15 


Pupils 14, 15, and 16 


Lessons VIII 


Lessons IX 


Lessons X 


Teacher D 


Teacher D 


Teacher D 




14 


15 


Pupils 15, 16, and 17 


Pupils 16. 17, and i3 


Pupils 17. 18. and 19 


Lessons XI 


Lessons XII 


Lessons XIII 


Teacher E 


Teacher E 


Teacher E 






18 | 


Pupils 18, 19. and 20 


Pupils 19, 20, and 21 


Pupils 20, 21, and 22 


Lessons XIV 


Lessons XV 


Lessons XVI 


Teacher F 


Teacher F 


Teacher F 



To see what will be done in a particular year, follow a column downward. To 
trace the course of a pupil through successive 3* ears, follow the corner numerals. 



P 



72 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



Dr. Robertson's plan provides for all the grades. 
After it has been inaugurated and is working properly 
Of Interest to it makes it possible for a pupil to enter 
the Primary the Sunday school at five years of 
Teacher a ^ e an( j tQ p r0 g ress [ n hj s religious 

education "by regular steps, each successive one 
higher than the preceding/' It does not provide 
for the teaching of the three and four-year-old chil- 
dren. If they are regular attendants at Sunday school 
it is better to find for them a special teacher, some 
young girl or a mother who has a talent for keeping 
little children occupied and happy, and for talking to 
them and telling them stories. If they must be in 
a class with older children the place for them is 
Group A. 

Dr. Robertson's plan has one added advantage over 
any other that has been projected. There is an over- 
lapping of ages within a group, but the lessons for 
each group are so arranged that they are taught to the 
pupils for whom they have been chosen and to the 
pupils nearest to them in age and development. For 
example, a first year primary lesson would never be 
taught an eight-year-old pupil or a third year pri- 
mary lesson taught a six-year-old child, which occurs 
when the lessons are taught departmentally, that is, 
in rotation to six, seven, and eight-year-old children. 

When it happens, as in some schools or in some 
years it may, that there are no pupils for a certain 

group, the lessons for that group are to be omitted. 

p 



CHAPTER VIII 

CONDITIONS AND EQUIPMENT 
FOR TEACHING 



73 




A CLASS TEACHER'S EQUIPMENT 
Note the round table, the screen, and the use that has been made of it. 



CHAPTER VIII 



Conditions and Equipment for Teaching 

'Children delight in orderliness and neatness, in 
"liberty under law." One of the lessons for the Sun- 

A Lesson for da >" schoo{ t0 learn is the value of a 
the Sunday clean and orderly room, and of a pro- 

School gram well planned and carried out in 

to Learn 1 . . 

the giving ot religious instruction, 

Of some Sunday schools it is said that the pupils in 

the elementary departments are noisy and disorderly, 

thoughtlessly irreverent. This condi- 
A Criticism . . . 

tion is due m part to weak discipline 

and to the absence of rules, regulations, and customs 
similar to those of the secular school. In the public 
school pupils are not permitted to enter a class room 
in a noisy manner or to play about the room. In most 
schools the younger pupils march to and from the 
class room and are held responsible for orderly be- 
havior. Teachers are stationed along the stairways 
and halls to prevent accidents and disorder and the 
children both regard and respect law and order and 
the voice of authority. 

In Sunday school the elementary teachers are apt to 
consider that they have no right to impose rules and 
regulations, to require orderly behavior. They fear 
that if they do the children will go to some other 
school where they may do as they please. The truth 

75 



76 INTRODUCTION AND USE 

is that the average child respects and admires the 
teacher who knows what is right and expects him to 
do it, who establishes just rules and regulations and 
requires him to act in accordance with them. The 
average primary department would do well to adopt 
some of the customs of the secular school that are aids 
in the control of conduct. 

A second cause for disorder on the part of pupils 
is the disorderly and unattractive class room. It is 
not possible to secure orderly behavior in disorderly 
surroundings and it is not justice to expect it. 

In some Sunday schools one may still find the young 
children in dark basements or crowded together in a 
room that older pupils would not tolerate. Sometimes 
one finds the primary room the general storeroom. In 
corners and on window-sills are worn out Bibles and 
discarded hymnals. Against the walls are the sewing 
machines of "the women's societies. " When one 
opens the doors of bookcases or cupboards unfinished 
garments for "the heathen" come tumbling forth to 
add to the confusion, and everywhere there is dust. 
This is not an exaggerated picture. It is true in part 
of some primary rooms and wholly true of others. 

Church auditoriums are built for worship. Every- 
thing is planned to aid in creating a worshipful atmos- 
phere. All too frequently Sunday school buildings 
are built with little or no thought of the effect on chil- 
dren of beautiful architecture, or of rooms that ex- 
press dignity and are suited to their purpose. 

p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 77 

The rooms apportioned to the children should be 
adequate in every sense. They should be spotlessly 
Suitable clean and in perfect order. The litter- 

Sunday School ing of the rooms with paper, the dis- 
Surroundings arrangement of furniture, the careless 
bringing in of mud on shoes and overshoes should not 
be permitted. There should be a door-mat or shoe- 
scraper at the outside door, a rack for umbrellas at 
the door of each class room, and in the room a scrap- 
basket for the reception of waste paper, pencil sharpen- 
ings and the like. It is in the orderly room that chil- 
dren are able to think clearly and give attention. 

The class rooms should be as beautiful as they can be 
made. "The color scheme of a room is a most im- 
portant consideration." "Of all the silent teachers 
that influence us from our entrance into this world to 
our going out of it, color is perhaps the most subtle 
and the most mysterious. It is difficult to realize how 
large a part it plays in man's emotional life."* 

The chairs should be comfortable for those who 
are to use them. They should be the right height. A 
child should be* able to sit with his feet resting upon 
the floor. The backs and seats of the chairs should 
be properly adjusted. A child should neither be thrown 
back in his chair nor pushed forward. He should be 
able to sit in a comfortable, upright position. Unless 
he is comfortable he will be wearied and ill-tempered. 

It is most desirable that both children and teachers 

* Some Silent Teachers, Elizabeth Harrison. 



P 



7§ 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



should remove cloaks and hats before the class session. 
In this way greater physical comfort is assured and 
fussing and restlessness are done away with. There 
should be cloak rooms or some other arrangement for 
the orderly disposal of both hats and cloaks. 

The class room should be well ventilated and receive 
plenty of fresh air. This is important for almost all 
odors excite some emotion. Impure air and foul odors 
are harmful in their effect on the physical and moral 
nature. The air in the Sunday school room should be 
clean and pure. 

One cannot place too great an emphasis on suitable 
Sunday school surroundings. The Sunday school is 
the place where the children are told of God, are 
helped to formulate their ideas not only by what they 
are told but also by what they feel. The Sunday 
school should be the place where the children feel 
rightly and are lifted to high planes of feeling and 
of thinking. The Sunday school should help the chil- 
dren to feel that they are in the presence of God. 
Where there is this feeling the children will be reverent 
in spirit and behavior. 

It has been said by Ruskin that "music, which of all 
the arts is the most directly ethical in origin, is also 

Further Aids in the most direct in power of discipline." 
Securing Proper The primary superintendent is just be- 
Ccnditions for ginning to discover how much may be 
said to the children through music. 

"Given its opportunity [music] can induce the slouch- 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



79 



ing child to stand erect, the sad to smile, the merry to 
be serious, the noisy to be quiet." 

The wise leader calls the department to order by 
means of music that will induce a feeling of quietness, 
of readiness of mind and spirit for the service of 
worship. "Much of the well-intended primary Sun- 
day school work loses half of its efficiency from the 
teachers not understanding that the child must be in 
gentle, reverent mood before he can be in the right 
religious attitude."* There is nothing that can so 
quickly bring about this mood as the right kind of 
music. Handel's Largo, Schumann's Traumerei, Men- 
delssohn's Spring Song and Consolation, "He Shall 
Feed His Flock/' from Handel's Messiah; "O Rest in 
the Lord," from Mendelssohn's Elijah; Schumann's 
Nachtstuck, and Gottschalk's Last Hope are arranged 
as hymns and may be found in most hymnals. The 
music of the masters, simplified and fingered by 
modern pianists, may be secured at almost any publish- 
ing house that publishes music. 

The wise leader prepares the children for their class 
work, calls them to attention and dismisses them not 
with the ringing of bells or disturbing signals but by 
music. f 

"Music can noble hints impart, 

With unspected eloquence can move 
And manage all the man with secret art." 

* A Study of Child Nature, Elizabeth Harrison. 

f For appropriate music and added suggestions see Primary Programs, Marion 
Thomas, Appendix A. 

P 



8o 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



In addition to being an aid in creating proper condi- 
tions for teaching, music can awaken the child's soul; 
help him to be reverent. Froebel has helped us to un- 
derstand that "to develop a spirit of reverence (is) 
to develop a capacity for religion.'" 

Another factor in the training for reverence is still- 
ness. Patterson Du Bois has said, ''One of the most 
important constituents in moral atmosphere is stillness 
or silence." Some teachers are afraid of stillness 
when it comes. Instead of making the most of it, of 
permitting the children to feel it, they regard it as the 
dangerous calm before the storm. They fear that it 
presages mischief on the part of the children. They 
hurry to ask a question or to do something that they 
may not lose their control. 

The absolute stillness that comes unexpectedly, for 
it cannot be arranged or planned for, helps the chil- 
dren to feel that they are in a holy place. It helps 
them to grasp large truths, for when, 

" . . with an eye made quiet by power 
Of harmony and the deep power of joy 
We see into the life of things." 

The brief periods of stillness that come sometimes 
before prayer, sometimes after it, sometimes as the 
result of quiet speaking to the children, or the presen- 
tation of some new thought, are not to be feared. 
When they come wait for a moment or two, stand 
quietly in perfect calmness and control until the deep 

feeling passes over. When it is gone do the next thing 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



that is to be done, proceed in usual manner and noth- 
ing will have been lost. Power and control over and 
for the children will have been gained. 

In creating the proper atmosphere and in securing 
the proper conditions and equipment for teaching, the 
larger responsibility is that of the de- 
Superintendent partment superintendent. It is the 
and Class primary superintendent who must keep 

Teacher's before her the vision of the ideal and 

Responsibility . . 

work toward it. It is she who must 

lead and inspire the class teachers and the children. 
To obtain results, however, the class teachers must 
cooperate and aid in every particular. 

It is the class teacher's part to be instantly obedient 
to every signal, to take part in all the exercises, to be 
reverent in spirit and manner, to show courtesy to the 
superintendent and to the children, to be willing to 
accept advice, to follow directions and to do all these 
things in the spirit of willing service for the Master. 

The cooperation of the children is also to be won. 
In one way and another each child must be given a 
sense of responsibility in maintaining order, in partici- 
pating in the worship, and in the interchange of kindly 
deeds. Each needs to realize that he has a place and 
share in making for the good of the whole, and that 
any failure to perform his part affects others. The 
child is brought to this realization not so much by 

teaching as by that subtle something in the atmosphere 
p 



82 . INTRODUCTION AND USE 



which prevails where there is unity of spirit and pur- 
pose on the part of officers and teachers. 

It is in the primary department where there is per- 
fect accord, cooperation, worship, fellowship, kindly 
deeds and words, that the Christ atmosphere is most 
apparent. Such an atmosphere is above all other the 
most necessary condition for teaching. It is said, "A 
Christ atmosphere is a mighty power in bringing men 
to Christ." If it is such a power in bringing men to 
the Saviour what may it not be in bringing the chil- 
dren. To bring the children to the Saviour and to 
help them to live lives of Christian service is the true 
purpose of the primary department. 

References 

The Natural Way, Patterson Du Bois, chapter 
"Nurture by Atmosphere." 

A Study of Child Nature, Harrison, chapter ''The 
Instinct of Reverence." 

Some Silent Teachers, Harrison, chapters "Dumb 
Stone and Marble," "The Influence of Color." 

The Decentralized Sunday School ; Primary Depart- 
ment. Ethel J. Archibald, chapter "Indirect 
Teaching." 

Primary Programs, Thomas, Foreword and Appendix. 



p 



CHAPTER IX 
THE TEACHER AT WORK 



p 



83 



CHAPTER IX 



The Teacher at Work 

To provide a religious nurture which shall be ade- 
quate to lead out the mind, the heart, and the con- 
The Teacher's science of the child toward largest, 
Problem and fullest life is at once the teacher's 
Quickening problem and the teacher's quickening 
Aspiration aspiration. To this end the teacher 

teaches directly by the giving of formal instruction. 
She teaches also by the creating of environment and 
atmosphere and by personality. 

In discussing the problem of the teacher and the 
child, Professor H. Thiselton Mark has said: "The 
longer one teaches and observes the teaching of others, 
the more does one become persuaded that there are 
spiritual forces in education which cannot be tabulated 
in a text book. Subtle forces of personality, the direct 
influence of mind on mind, and of character on char- 
acter, are ever at play."* 

It is said : "Personality is one of those elusive words 

whose meaning can always be felt, but 
The Influence in i r 1 -r» i-. 

of Personality hardly ever defined. Personality . . . 

is the man. More definitely it is the 

spirit that unifies the attainments of a man ; it is his 



* "The Teacher and the Child." H. Thiselton Mark. 



86 



INTRODUCTION 



AND USE 



attitude toward life, his point of view, his total 
character."* 

If personality is the man, his spirit, his attitude 
toward life, his point of view, his character, then the 
personality of a teacher is the whole teacher teaching. 
It is the teacher's faith making .truth vivid and vital. 
It is the teacher's character imparting ideals to the 
child. It is the teacher's actions, set up as a model 
for the child to imitate. 

The child of primary age is imitative. "Imitation 
is the tendency of the individual to act upon the sug- 
gestions of others." Suggestions are given consciously 
by the teacher. To give them is one of the purposes 
of teaching. But more than the suggestions that are 
given purposely and consciously are those that are 
given unconsciously, by what the teacher is. 

For this reason, the teacher's personality is a potent 
influence. Each teacher possesses qualities of char- 
acter that have been built up in the course of life. 
These elements of strength are peculiarly his own. 
They reflect his temperament, disposition, habits, and 
the experiences of the years. They also tend to awaken 
like elements of strength in the members of the class. 
It is for this reason that the plan is advocated for 
teachers in the primary department to remain perma- 
nent in their grades. Such a plan makes it possible 
for the pupils to pass from one teacher to another as 
they pass from one grade to another, to come under 



* H. H. Home. 
P 



OF THE GRADED LESSOXS 



87 



the helpful influence not of one but of different 
teachers. After a few years of experience in a graded 
primary department it is easily discernible in which 
grade the teachers are best fitted to teach, and which 
teacher should teach bovs and which girls. 



On the part of each individual there is the tendency 
to act upon the suggestions of others. A suggestion 

may be given either by what is said or 
Hints to the 1 ' 1 • 1 1 r i 1 

Teacher - what is done, by purposetul teach- 

ing or by unconscious and unpremedi- 
tated example. 

The young child idealizes his teacher. What she 
says and does are just right and when with her and 
away from her he imitates her. Hence the teacher is 
most imitable to the forming mind. 

One of the privileges of the teacher is to be in what- 
soever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and 
of good report what she is willing for her pupils to 
become. If this is her privilege, what is her duty? 

The child is dependent upon those by whom he is 
surrounded for his first beliefs and of what is right 
and wrong, fitting and noble, beautiful, and desirable. 

We give thought to what we will teach our children 
by means of Sunday school lessons, by appropriate 
stories, by precepts, or by direct reproof or admonition. 
We do not always stop to consider what we are teach- 
ing them by example. Gestures, expressions of the 
face, careless words and unpremeditated actions have 



88 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



as great if not a greater influence than lesson teaching. 

Patterson Du Bois has said : Our need is less a mat- 
ter of direct teaching and preaching than of atmos- 
pheric influence — example, suggestion, pure spirit, 
gentle manner, sweet temper, strong handling, firm 
stepping in virtue. . . . The educational power of the 
Sunday school is nine tenths in the atmosphere and 
the personality of the teacher. 

Is the teacher erect and graceful in bearing? Is she 
firm and vigorous of movement? If she is, the chil- 
dren receive impressions of a strong character. Is 
she bright and cheery? Does she greet the children 
with a sunny smile? Is she even and just in her disci- 
pline and quick to recognize the child's point of view? 
Is she tender and sympathetic? Does she love truth 
and goodness and beauty? The children gain lasting 
impressions of reserve power and strength, of beauty 
of character and of moral worth. 

Whefi the teacher is strong and vigorous the pupils 
are apt to be alert and happy, keen of mind, and ready 
for service. But needless activity must never be mis- 
taken for vigor or for strength. True strength ex- 
presses itself in repose and in quiet and effective move- 
ment and speech. And there must be quietness and 
peace where there is to be worship. 

"In so far as we exert unconscious influence over 
[the child] through our actions, words, and even our 
thoughts, and thus affect his point of view, we must 
realize the necessity of a high standard of life and 

Jtr 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 89 



thought for ourselves. In so far as we, in our de- 
liberate training of the child, consciously modify his 
actions and impulses to action, which, in their turn, 
influence his outlook on life, our dealings with him 
are more effective when we enter into and understand 
his point of view, and the extent to which, and manner 
in which, it differs from our own. But, in striving to 
influence the growing child for good, we must ever 
beware of exerting an undue influence. The child's 
point of view should be his own. Even though some 
restraint is necessary, freedom to develop is even more 
necessary. He should preserve his own individuality."* 

It takes a soul 
To move a body, — it takes a high-souled man 
To move the masses, even to a cleaner style : 
It takes the ideal to blow an inch inside 
The dust of the actual, and your Fouriers failed 
Because not poets enough to understand 
That life develops from within. 

— " Aurora Leigh," Mrs. Browning. 

References 

The Philosophy of Education, H. H. Home, chapters 
"The Sociological Aspect of Education," "The 
Psychological Aspect of Education." 

The Natural Way, Patterson Du Bois, chapter "Nur- 
ture by Atmosphere." 

The Teacher and the Child, H. Thiselton Mark, 
chapters I, VI, IX, X. 



* The Dawn of Character, E. E. R. Mumford. 
P 



9 o INTRODUCTION AND USE 



The Decentralized Sunday School : Primary Depart- 
ment. Ethel J. Archibald, chapters "Indirect 
Teaching/' "The True Spirit of the Primary De- 
partment." 

The Dawn of Character, Edith E. Reed Mum ford, 
chapter "The Child's Point of Mew." 



It is not merely what we may do for the child; 
we must consider what the child can do for us. AYe 
are not simply the teachers of children; possibly chil- 
dren are equally our own teachers. . . . 

More than this, Christ leads us back to the little 
child for our spiritual testing, for the measuring of 
the value of our character, for the correction of our 
spiritual knowledge and vision. We are told that 
artists sometimes become confused concerning color, 
and find it necessary to subject their eyes to what they 
call "'color-washing,'' which consists in holding the 
sight for a good while upon a perfectly white surface, 
until the power of vision is entirely corrected of its 
uncertainties and confusions. So God brings us back 
to the soul of a child for the washing of our spiritual 
vision. I have looked down into the limpid waters of 
a still mountain lake. I could not see bottom; the 
waters were crystal clear but they were exceeding 
deep. Such is the soul of a child. 

Johx T. McFarlaxd. 



? 



CHAPTER X 

THE STORY METHOD AND THE 
BIBLE STORIES OF THE 
PRIMARY LESSONS 



91 




A SECOND YEAR CLASS TEACHER'S EQUIPMENT 

Note the oblong table and the pictures on the screen. Around this table a 
teacher and seven pupils may find accommodation and be comfortable. The 
table is 42 inches long by 22 inches wide. 



CHAPTER X 



The Story Method axd the Bible Stories of the 
Primary Lessons 

A few of the lessons of the primary course are to 
be taught by the conversational method. Some of 

The Lessons to them are for review alld drilL But the 
Be Taught by majority are story lessons because the 

the Story story is the most effective means of 

Method u • r • ■ -±.x ■ 

bringing religious instruction within 

the range of the child's mental powers. 

It is not only the child that loves a story. A good 
story, well told, appeals to everyone. In the childhood 
Love for the of the race, when there were no books, 
Story and when story-telling was the only 

means for transmitting knowledge and 
culture, love for the story began. That love is now 
instinctive. Hence in the use of the story in teaching 
we have a natural interest to rely upon and none to 
combat. 

The child of primary age especially loves a story. 

But, in order to be suitable, it must be neither too 

simple nor too complex, and it must 
The Child and , . T . . 

the Story * 3e a P icture - *-t must picture hie m 

action. 

When one stops to think and realize it, the child's 

93 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



world is largely a picture world. Through all his 
A Second waking hours there is something to 

Reason for the see. Except when he is asleep there 
Use of the are people around him who are always 

Story doing something. Objects are moving 

or being moved before him. Life and its meanings is 
being constantly interpreted to him by moving-pictures. 

The story is something like a picture and therefore 
has a large place in the child's world. It is a means 
for making his mind active, for direct- 

The Place of 

the Story m S his thoughts, and for bringing to 

the child ideals that influence and lift 
life. It is a means for bringing to him religious and 
spiritual truths out of that vast treasury of truth to 
which he, as the child of God, is heir. It is the story 
that can best open up the heart of the child to God, 
help him to do God's will and to become God's child. 

Every story pictures some vital part of a life. In 
Added Reasons other words, a story is a section of con- 
for the Use of crete experience. As such it brings to 
the Story ^ ^jj^ a new experience or recalls 

one. It also arouses an impulse to action. 

Not all children possess the power in the same 
degree to live in — to think, to feel, to act — the story 
The Story told them. But while listening to a 

Gives or Recalls story, the average child lives in it to a 
an Experience cer tain extent, and, therefore in a sense, 
experiences the life that is being pictured. He selects 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



the part that appeals to him most strongly and then, 
in imagination, plays that part. 

Tell a story and watch the little listener's face. In 
difficult situations the child looks thoughtful or shows 
anxiety. If the hero is in trouble, shadows creep into 
the child's eyes, sometimes the tears fall. If the story 
approaches -the climax with a joyous note the child 
shows joy and happiness. If the story depicts self- 
denial, courage, or nobility of conduct, the child shows* 
by his earnest, thoughtful attention, by uplifted look, 
by exclamation or comment that he is thinking rightly, 
feeling nobly. 

Through the child's tendency and power to live 
in the story a story becomes to him an experience. 
Every experience brings a contribution that influences 
and affects the developing life and character. If it is 
an experience that is helpful to him it calls forth and 
leaves a feeling that is refining, ennobling, and enrich- 
ing. It quickens the child's mind to a perception of 
truth. It opens his "soul-w T indows" and gives to him 
a vision of his own self and of the self that with 
God's help it is possible for him to become. There 
is nothing that lifts the life of the child so effectively 
as the story unless it is the act to which the story in- 
spires him. To inspire to right action is our aim. 

Thus by teaching truth and presenting ideals of life 

and conduct, and by affecting conduct, the story is an 

aid in the development of character. The instinct of 
p 



c>6 INTRODUCTION AXD USE 



imitation is strong within the child. He will imitate 
The Story an n °t only the life that he sees being 
Impulse to enacted round about him but also the 

Actlon life that is pictured in a story. "When 

he imitates he more nearly understands." 

"Imitation is certainly one of the most valuable and 
fruitful methods which the mind adopts in learning 
life's lessons. . . . 

"There is the ever-present tendency ... to repeat 
in our own behavior witnessed actions which have, if 
only sub-consciously, had an impelling effect at the 
time to act similarly."* 

Besides the spontaneous tendency "to act here and 
now as others are acting" there is an ever-increasing 
tendency to imitate the idea or motive. The ability of 
the child to do this makes the story the most effective 
means in the giving of religious instruction. The 
Sunday school teacher's opportunity is limited to about 
half an hour a week. She cannot go home with her 
pupils or help them carry over into action the impulses 
received from the teaching. She must depend upon 
the story to do what, from force of cifcumstances, she 
cannot do for her pupils. 

Because the teacher's opportunity is so limited the 
story that is told must touch child life intimately and 
must give strong impulses to action. The action sug- 
gested must be such that the child can carry out, and, 

* The Unfolding of Personality. H. Thiselton Mark. 
P 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



97 



it may be, will carry out, not recognizing why he 
What the Story does it. Besides being an act that the 
Should Do for child can carry out, it should be one 
the Child that will contribute to the enriching of 

his experience. It should enlarge his sympathies, 
quicken his soul to new hungers and aspirations, and 
deepen his perception of truth. 

In the primary department large use is made of 

Bible stories. Other stories are used occasionally by 

way of illustration and of making the 
The Use of \ . fe 

Bible Stories teaching more concrete. 

The Bible stories that have been 

chosen for the graded primary lessons are those that 

teach truths which the children need most in their 

stage of development. They are the stories that are 

adapted to inspire to the doing of what is God's will 

for a child. 

The doing is important, for by doing God's will the 
child comes to a better understanding of God. Further- 
more an act involves choosing — willing on the part of 
the child. "Every act of will is, in its own measure, a 
fresh determination of character." Therefore the pur- 
pose of religious instruction in the Sunday school is 
not to teach about truth. It is to help the child to live 
truth, and thus to bring him into conscious relations 
with God and inspire within him the desire to be God's 
child. 



The story is, as has been said, the most effective 
p 



9 8 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



means for the giving of religious instruction. But for 

the story to make its 'strongest appeal 
The Story to Be - - " , . . r , , 

Told Not Read and dee P est impression it must be told 

and not read. It must be told with 
all the art and skill at the command of the teacher. 
It must live not only through the voice, but through 
the eyes, the expression, the gestures. This the story 
cannot do if it is read. It must be told. 

Power to tell a story comes through being full of 

the story, knowing it and feeling its message or truth. 

It comes through studv, and practice in 
Power to Tell „. ' 1 

a Story story-telling. 

Many people think that all that a 
story-teller needs to do is to go before an audience and 
begin to tell stories. The fact is that story-telling is 
an art that cannot be acquired without painstaking 
preparation and study. 

There are story-tellers for children who have made 
story-telling their life work. They tell stories beauti- 
fully and are able to hold the attention of large 
audiences. But to do this, they spend weeks over one 
story — writing and rewriting it, then learning to tell it. 

The first step in the preparation of a story for tell- 
ing is to grasp its significance. One must feel the 
Steps in the truth it teaches and be stirred by it. 
Story Teller's The truth must be one that the children 
Preparation can a pp re hend and act upon. 'The 
teacher must have clearly in mind the particular virtue 



OF THE GRADED LESSOXS 99 



to which the story is to incite the hearer or the very 
fault of which it is designed to warn him." 

Having decided upon the impression which the story 
will make or will leave with the child, one must know 
the feelings that are necessary to be stirred for the 
final impression to be made. Therefore the story must 
be studied event by event with view to discovering 
what is vital in each, what feeling each arouses, the 
order in which the events occur, which form the 
climax, and how the story is ended. 

As a part of the learning process, for one must know 
the story in order to tell it, it is advisable to make a 
written outline of the characters, time and place, and 
of the events in their order. From this outline or 
skeleton the story should be told and retold to oneself 
before it is told to the children. 

In telling and retelling the story it is desirable to 

make vivid mental pictures of it. Take, for example, 

the story, "God the Creator and Father," in Primary 

Teacher's Text Book, First Year, Part I. In telling 

this story to oneself, either with or without an outline, 

make mental pictures. See the little child that was 

walking in the garden. Picture the lilies swinging on 

their slender stems. What kind of lilies were they? 

Day lilies or calla lilies? Decide for yourself and see 

them. If you can see what you want the children to 

see, they will see it. And what you feel as you tell the 

story, the children will feel. 

The secret of story-telling lies not in following 
p 



IOO 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



rules, not in analyzing processes, not even in imitating 
good models, though these are all necessary, but first 
of all in being full — full of the story, the picture, the 
children, and then in being morally and spiritually up 
to concert pitch, which is the true source of power in 
anything. From these come spontaneity; what is 
within must come out; the story tells itself; and of 
your fullness the children all receive.''* 

"The conscientious teacher will hardly be content 
to say, T cannot tell a story.' He will make himself 
a teller of tales. This is his duty and his opportunity, 
and when he has mastered the simple art it will be his 
joy as well."t 

References 

Picture Work, Walter L. Hervey. 

Stories and Story Telling, E. P. St. John. 

How to Tell Stories to Children, Sara Cone Bryant. 

The Pedagogical Bible School, Haslett. 

The Natural Way, Du Bois. 

The Unfolding of Personality, H. Thiselton Mark. 
The Teacher and the Child, H. Thiselton Mark. 
The Pupil and the Teacher, Weigle. 

* Picture Work, Walter Hervey. 

t Stories and Story-Telling, E. P. St. John. 

Oxe of the readiest ways in which we may in- 
crease our power as teachers is to realize that teach- 
ing is seeing and picturing. 

H. Thiselton Mark. 



CHAPTER XI 



THE USE OF PICTURES IN TEACH- 
ING THE PRIMARY LESSONS 



IOI 



CHAPTER XI 



The Use of Pictures in Teaching the Primary 

Lessons 

A picture is something like a story. It is said to 
contain "a story in miniature under a semi-realistic 
The Picture representation.'' Hence the reasons 
Something Like ~ why we should use pictures are similar 
a Story to fat reasons why we use stories in 

teaching the primary lessons. 

Pictures convey knowledge. They show the man- 
ners and customs of a people. They bring the distant 

tv x in time or place near. Thev make 

The Picture a r 

Means for the people real, and are needed by the child. 
Giving of Before the World's Sunday School 

Convention at Jerusalem in 1904, a 
teacher was speaking of her desire to attend the con- 
vention and to take a trip through Palestine. "Why/* 
exclaimed one of the girls, and she was fully twelve 
years old, "Can you go to Palestine? I thought that 
the Holy Land was just a place about which you read 
in the Bible." 

Bible stories alone do not make Palestine a real 
place. When photographs and other pictures are used 
in addition to the Bible narratives, the whole body of 

103 



104 INTRODUCTION AND USE 

information becomes more human, more real. Reli- 
gious and moral ideas — especially those that are re- 
lated to a distant land and are associated with persons 
who lived long, long ago, are apt to be treated as 
shadowy unrealities by the ordinary child. They seem 
to be akin to the myths and fairy tales. Pictures help 
to bring these ideas out of this realm of imagination 
and to bring them close to his actual experience. 

In order thus to make moral and religious ideas 
real, the pictures must be true to the facts. That is, 
they must be definite and accurate in reproducing that 
for which they stand. Their use is to give informa- 
tion. A supposed picture of Nazareth that is but the 
fanciful creation of an artistic mind and leaves a false 
impression upon the mind of the one who sees it, 
tends to undermine the sense of reality that should 
characterize a child's approach to Bible truths. Pic- 
tures should portray manners and customs, people and 
places truly, and with accuracy of detail. 

In a story, there may be described character and life 
as well as things, places, and people. Pictures, like- 
wise, may be used to represent "actions, 
The Picture a . r ~ 

Means for experiences, temper, purpose, ertects, 

Depicting feelings, and the like."* "A picture 

Character and ^ < < helps us to see more clearly, feel 
more heartily . . . the truth which is 
not or cannot be immediately present to our senses. 



* The Pedagogical School, S. B. Haslett. 
P 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 105 

The truth . . . may be the truth of people, places, and 
actions in external things; it may be the truth of 
character and of inner life."* Pictures of this type 
have large use in the primary department and great 
influence because they are a means for teaching moral 
truths. 

In the presentation of moral truth to children, it is 
of value that the principle of action or the attitude of 
heart be presented all at once and in its entirety. If, 
for instance, the lesson of kindness is to be taught, 
it is well for the child to see a picture of the kind 
shepherd caring for the lambs. It is difficult for a 
young child to hold in mind all of the words of the 
story and to understand each one. But it is relatively 
easy to interpret the impressions made upon his eyes. 
It is easier to look than to listen. But, more than that, 
in looking, the child sees the truth all at once. It is 
a whole. He doesn't have to put things together like 
he does in listening to a long string of words. The 
good picture is more apt to represent the moral or 
religious truth without leaving out details than is the 
story. 

The picture gives ideas, and ideas are "springs of 
action."! Moreover, action in the line of an emotion 
or in response to an idea tends to give the emotion or 
idea permanence. The sum of our ideas plus our ex- 



* The Unfolding of Personality, H. Thiselton Mark, 
t Picture Work, Walter L. Hervey. 
P 



io6 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



periences equals our ideals. Our ideals are a power 

The Picture a ^ eac ^ s the sou ^ on - Hence the pic- 

Means for ture is a means for permanently modi- 

Modifying fying conduct, and as such is an in- 

fluence affecting the development of 
character and the religious life. 

In seeking to further the religious life of the child 

we teach him truths. Children do not comprehend 

The Picture a truths in the abstract. They grasp 

Means for them only as they are exemplified in 

Interpreting life and are expressed by action. A 
Truth 

picture that portrays life in action has 
a message to give, a truth to teach. If it is a picture 
that comes within the child's range of experience and 
understanding he will perceive its truth. Hence pic- 
tures are an aid to the child in getting clear concep- 
tions of religious and spiritual truths, and in perceiv- 
ing the relations of their truths to himself and his 
own life. To those who are unable to understand 
abstract truth, the right kind of pictures used properly 
are almost indispensable to the giving of religious in- 
struction. 

In telling a story it is desirable for the child to give 
his whole attention to it, and to picture it for himself. 
Some Uses of After it has been told it is equally 
Pictures in desirable for him to handle and study 

Teaching ^ e picture or pictures that illustrate it. 

Then the illustrations will give denniteness to the pic- 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 107 



tures the child constructed by the aid of his imagina- 
tion while listening. They will correct wrong ideas 
if he formed any. The point of the story is thus sure 
to become evident. Whatever impression was made 
by it is deepened. The time for showing most pictures 
is after a story has been told.* 

Occasionally it is desirable for the child to have 
some object, place, or person vividly in mind in order 
to understand a story. In this case, the picture which 
will help the child to understand should be shown 
before as well as after the telling of the story. t 

A method that has a limited use with pupils of 
primary age is to show a picture during the narration 
of a story. A picture used in this way centers interest 
in the picture itself and thereby limits the helpfulness 
of the story. Quite frequently it anticipates the climax 
and spoils the story for telling, t But if the story is 
represented by a series of pictures, one by one they 
may well be shown as it proceeds, provided they really 
belong together, do not distract the mind from it, and 
in a sense tell the story without words. 

A. method that has also an occasional use and pref- 
erably in reviewing a story, is to show a picture, and 
ask the pupil to explain it or tell the story it tells to 



*See pupils' folders, First Year, Stories 12 and 13; Third Year, Stories n. 12 
17, page 5." 

fSee pupils' folders, Second Year, Stories 35 to 39, 50 to 52; Third Year, Story 
44, page 1. 

t See pupils' folder. Third Year, Story 40. page 3. for a picture that would hold 
children's interest, and page 5 for a picture which would anticipate the climax if 
presented too soon. 
P 



io8 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



him. To lay out a number of pictures and to permit 
each pupil in the class to select a picture and to write 
or tell its story, or to write or recite the memory verse 
the picture has helped him to recall, is an exercise that 
children enjoy. It is helpful to them and revealing to 
the teacher. From it she can estimate the children's 
knowledge and their appreciation of the lesson truths.* 

In teaching young children it is usually better to 
use a few pictures, or possibly one, in illustrating a 
The Number story than it is to use a number. If a 
of Pictures to series of pictures does not represent a 
Be Used at vital development of the story it blurs 
the moral issue. A number of pictures 
that are not properly related tends to confusion rather 
than to definiteness of thought and of impression. 
The Madonna and nativity pictures, for example, 
differ so greatly in their treatment that it is wise to 
select and use a few of the best and to use them over 
and over again. When the child is older he is able 
to understand that the pictures represent the efforts 
of different artists to express their thoughts of Jesus 
and their love for him. Then several pictures on the 
one subject may be used, and each child should be 
permitted to choose and to keep a copy of the picture 
that he likes best. 

In teaching special missionary lessons it is fre- 
quently of advantage to show a number of pictures. 

* See pupils' folder, Third Year, Story 9. 
P 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 109 

This applies to the nature lessons as well. See Pri- 
mary Teacher's Text Books and Primary Lesson 
Detail for suggestions for pictures for these lessons/" 

There is great benefit to the child in being able 
to handle a picture and to study it at close range. He 
The Use of the wants to touch it and to put his finger 
Picture by the on this detail and on that. And if his 
Chlld eyesight is defective he can see it in 

no other way. Therefore the method of providing 
pictures for class use has superseded that of hanging 
large lesson pictures upon the wall or blackboard. 

Pictures have, of course, other uses than lesson 
illustration, but it is to the use of pictures in lesson 
teaching that this chapter is confined. 

For the illustration of the Primary Graded Lessons 
four sets of pictures have been prepared. On exami- 
The Picture nation, it will be found that these pic- 
Sets of the tures are graded. They appeal to the 
Primary Course j nterestSj understanding, and volition 
of growing children. The first set accompanies the 
first year text books. No additional charge is made 
for these pictures for the reason that they are similar 
to the pictures in the pupil's folders. 

For the use of teachers in teaching the second year 
lessons two sets of pictures are available. As they are 
the first for which an additional charge is made they 



* These lessons occur in the second year of the primary course. 
P 



I IO 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



are called Primary Picture Set Xo. i and The Mis- 
sionary Picture Set or Primary Picture Set Xo. 2. 
The Pictures of Primary Picture Set X^o. 3 are for the 
illustration of the third year primary lessons, 

The greater number of pictures in sets number one 
and three were drawn in Palestine. They are accurate 
in detail and in color and cannot be excelled in their 
teaching values. X^o primary department can afford 
to be without one set of each, for the teachers need 
them for their own study. When it is possible each 
teacher should have the pictures for the lessons that 
she teaches, but when the department is not fully 
equipped there may be an interchange of pictures. 5 " 
The pictures in the Missionary Picture Set are photo- 
graphs. For the number of pictures in each set, size, 
and price of the pictures see Appendix C. 

Besides the pictures prepared especially for the 

graded primary lessons additional ones should be used. 

Chief among these are the Beginners' 
Additional ~ t-.. 1 , . ' - J 

Pictures Story Pictures, and the pictures that 

may be gathered from different sources 
— magazine covers and advertisements, the inexpen- 
sive but beautiful seasonal pictures that are on sale 
in the department stores during the year, and the 
pictures of the Perry. Brown, "Wilde, and Cosmos 
Picture Companies ; for we need pictures, and pictures, 
and then more pictures in teaching young children. 

* See Forewords in Primary Teacher's Text Books for suggestions relating to 
the interchange of pictures by class teachers. 
P 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS in 

References (Books) 

Picture Work, W. L. Hervey. 

The Pedagogical Bible School, S. B. Haslett. 

The Natural Way, P. Du Bois. 

The Unfolding of Personality, H. T. Mark. 

The Teacher and the Child, H. T. Mark. 

The Church School, W. A. Athearn. 

The Decentralized Primary Department, E. Archibald. 

References (Pictures) 

Typical pictures in the pupil's folders to show manners 
and customs, to bring the distant near, to make 
people real. 

First Year, Stories 12, 13, 14, 45, 50. 

Second Year, Stories 1 ; 2 ; 6, page 5; 10; 13, page 
5; 15; 2 5, page 5; 2 7; 35 to 39. 

Third Year, Stories 3, page 1; 5, page 3; 6, pages 
1 and 3 ; 16, pages 1 and 6; 28, pages 1, 4 and 5 ; 
29, pages 1, 4 and 5; 32, page 1 ; 34, pages 1 to 
5 ; 35 to 39 ; 43, page 1 ; 45, pages 1 and 6. 

Typical pictures in pupil's folders depicting action, 
experiences, purpose, effects, feelings. 
First Year, Stories 7, 9, 35 to 38, 42, 43. 
Second Year, Stories 5, 11. 

Third Year, Stories 20, pages 1 and 5; 31, page 5; 
48, page 6. 

Typical pictures suggesting action. 

First Year, Stories 10, 11, 24, 29, 34, 40, 46, 52. 
Second Year, Stories 4, page 5 ; 20, page ^; 22; 2^; 
30; 3 1 - 

p 



ii2 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



Third Year, Stories 3, page 3 ; 4, pages 3 and 5 ; 
8, page 6; 21, page 5 ; 23, pages 3 and 5 ; 33, page 
5; 47, Page 5; 5 2 , page 5. 

Typical pictures interpreting truth. 

First Year, Stories 2, 18, 20, 21, 34, 47. 
Second Year, Stories 21 ; 31 ; 32, page 5 ; 34. 
Third Year, Stories 19, pages 1, 5 and 6. 



Quickening appeals may lie in a picture hanging 
silently on the school walls. 

The plan which many adopt of changing the posi- 
tions of pictures from time to time is a very good one. 
A newly placed picture challenges attention, and re- 
peats the message which, from the old position, had 
come to be unheeded. 

H. Thiselton Mark. 



The main question is not how many pictures can 
be brought within the child's range of vision, but on 
how many can his imagination be awakened to lay 
hold. Walter Sargent. 



CHAPTER XII 

HANDWORK AND EXPRESSION AL 
ACTIVITIES 



CHAPTER XII 



Handwork and Expressioxal Activities 

By handwork is meant the picture the child pastes 

or draws or builds in the sand to help him remember 

the lesson story, the memory verse he 
What Is Meant . P 1 ~ -r>-i 1 1 

by Handwcrk copies from the Bible, the sentences or 

short story he writes about the lesson, 
the answers that he writes to questions, or the model 
he constructs with paper, cardboard, or clay. There 
was a time when such work was regarded as an ex- 
pressional activity. But now because of our better 
understanding of what it accomplishes for the child, 
it is held to be more a method of teaching and of im- 
pressing, not expressing, a lesson truth. 



In a preceding chapter it was said that ideas are our 
springs of action. They lead to action because know- 
What Is an 

ing is accompanied by feeling, and feel- 
Expressional ing by willing. Therefore when we 
Activity teach a lesson or tell a story and by this 

means convey an idea to the child, some form of feel- 
ing is aroused and some desire or impulse, the outward 
expression of which is action. This impulse may meet 
with or be overcome by conflicting and stronger im- 
pulses, and there may be no outward manifestation. 

p 



n6 



INTRODUCTION 



AND USE 



With young children the feeling may be indefinite, 
and the desire or impulse to act may be weak. The 
child may not know what to do or how to act. But 
when a child acts or may be led to do so in response 
to an idea received through a lesson or story, that act 
is an expressional activity, as for example : 

A beginners' teacher had been telling the story of 
Rebekah's kindness, and of how she drew water from 
the well and gave the thirsty camels a drink. At the 
close of the story one little boy left his chair with an 
eagerness of manner that attracted the teacher's atten- 
tion. He passed around the circle to the cloak room 
and selected the hat that belonged to a little friend. 
As he brought it to her, he looked up at his teacher 
and explained, "I wanted to help her." 

The idea of kindness received through the story 
aroused a kindly feeling and the desire to do some- 
thing for some one. This desire or impulse was 
strong enough to lead to action, and the attempt by 
the child to help his little friend. 

The other children did not act so promptly. They 
might have been too shy or they might not have known 
what to do. Their impulse might not have been suffi- 
cient!}' strong to lead to expression. It is probable that 
a number of the children received the idea and felt 
kindly and expressed this feeling at some later time 
at home or at school during the week. Not all children 
respond at once with outward action unless it is sug- 
gested or directed. They have so lived in the story 

p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 117 

and been a part of it, that for the time at least, it is 
as if they had acted, and later they will act.* If 
this were not so, the teaching given at Sunday school 
would be ineffective, for not always is it possible for 
the children to act immediately in Sunday school at 
the close of the lesson. When action is possible it 
should be permitted, and, if need be, suggested and 
directed. 



An act in response to an idea tends to impress the 

idea, to make it vivid and to fix it in the mind. An 

act once performed makes repetition 
Reasons Why 1 r 

possible and probable. It has an effect 

on the development of character. It is not the child's 

idea of kindness that builds the element of kindness 

into his character. It is the kind act that he performs 

to-day and to-morrow and the next day and so on 

until to be kind has become habitual, is one of his 

characteristics. We understand readily what is meant 

when it is said that "character is the summation of 

habit,"f and also how important it is in Sunday 

school to make provision for those activities which are 

the natural expression of the lesson teaching. 

Handwork and expressional activities are each im- 
portant and have a place in the Sunday school on 
Sunday. Suppose for example, that after the story 



* See chapters X and XI. 
t H. H..Horne. 
P 



n8 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



of Rebekah's kindness to the camels had been told, 
Handwork and that the beginners had been given pic- 
Expressional tures to paste and to make into a book 
Activities f r a child who was unable to attend 

Exemplified Sunday school. The pasting of the 
pictures would have been handwork. The making of 
a picture book for a little friend for whom they felt 
sorry and whom they wanted to help would have been 
an experience in kindness. Such an experience would 
have given vividness to the idea. If there was a child 
present who did not know what it meant to be kind, 
the experience would have taught him. And when 
once a child has gained an idea he makes use of it. He 
may ask to make another picture book when he has a 
desire to do for others, but it is far more probable 
that he will make an original application of the idea. 
The little beginner did not ask to give camels a drink. 
He looked about him to see what he could do and 
brought his little friend her hat. 



In the primary, as in the beginners' department the 

children need guidance through suggestion. Most of 

them have the ability to make their 
The Need of * - t i . « 

Guidance own a PP Ilca tion ota story and to decide 

what they would like to do, but it is 

not practicable for each child in the department to 

carry out his own impulse at the close of the lesson. 

When there is something that may be done it is better 

for the teacher to talk with the pupils, to give each an 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 119 

opportunity to tell what he would like to do and how 
to do it, and then to guide the decision in such a way 
that the children will be happy in uniting in their 
effort and doing something as a class. Moreover 
primary pupils need to do things together for the 
socializing influence. 

Lessons differ in the truths they teach. Hence the 
ways in which lessons are expressed must differ. The 

most suitable expression of one lesson 
Different - 1 - 

Activities ma * v 3e P ra y er > °* another lesson a 

song, of another lesson the recitation 
of the memory verse. With these lessons the teacher 
need not consult the children, but should lead them in 
doing what she herself feels impelled to do. Discus- 
sion is appropriate when a lesson lends itself to differ- 
ent forms of expression and it will be helpful to the 
children to state their preferences. 

In regard to the activities that should be engaged in 
by the pupils no one can tell a teacher what her pupils 
should do at a given time or how they should do it. 
But types of activities appropriate for different lessons 
and for different seasons of the year are suggested in 
the Primary Teacher's Text Books, in Primary Lesson 
Detail, and in Primary Programs.* 

Handwork presents many problems. It is difficult 



* The forewords and appendices, as well as the text, should be consulted in the 
text books and also in Books I and II of the Primary Planbook Series. 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials 

, , and easy to forget the purpose for 

Handwork , . , .\ t , 1 6 * 

which it should be used. 

Handwork should never be used during the Sunday 
school session to keep the children busy. If it has no 
teaching value, it has no place in the Sunday school 
on Sunday. If it is something that children can do 
at home as easily as in the Sunday school, it would 
be better done at home. But if it relates to the lesson 
truth and will impress it, then it is appropriate for use 
in the Sunday school. If it will suggest to the child 
the act that is a natural expression of the lesson truth 
and is desirable for him to perform that he may know 
and do God's will, there should be no question about 
its value, or quibbling about its use on Sunday. Hand- 
work of this character would better be done in the 
Sunday school under the direction of the teacher who 
taught the lesson. She knows the truth she aimed to 
teach, the impression she sought to make., and the 
impulse to action to be evoked. It is the teacher who 
can make handwork most helpful to the child, pro- 
vided that it is suitable in every way. 

The handwork to be done in Sunday school may 
always be tested by these questions : 

Will it teach a lesson fact or deepen the impression 
of the lesson truth? 

Will it help the child to carry over into his own 
life some right thought, word, or deed? 

If the work proposed answers this test it is hand- 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 121 

work in the proper use of the word. If it does not, 
if its value lies in its attractiveness alone or if it has 
only a passing and not a permanent teaching value, 
then it is busy work. A clear distinction should 
always be made between handwork and busy work. 
Busy work should be used only occasionally in the 
Sunday school, if at all. Its legitimate place is in the 
home. 



Busy work is attractive to most children. It is some- 
thing that they may do by themselves and without the 

w , dictation or direction of the teacher, and 

Busy Work . 1M . . ■ 

they like to do it. ruling m outlines 

of letters or memory verses with crayons or paints, 
coloring pictures, tracing or filling in pictures in out- 
line are types of busy work. Such work is mechanical 
and has little teaching value, as for example : 

The six-year-old child does not read, or if he reads, 
he recognizes words as a whole and the coloring of 
letters is not an aid to memorization. The child 
is so interested in what he is doing, in keeping on or 
within a line, in doing his work well that he does not 
think of the w T ord he is coloring. He has not the 
power to do two things at once. The coloring requires 
all of his attention. Hence the value of such work 
lies in the fact that it is interesting and keeps him busy. 

In the same way the pasting of pictures, which is 

suggested for first year handwork, may also become 

mechanical and be made mere busy work. But if the 
p 



122 INTRODUCTION AND USE 

teacher provides a number of pictures from which 
the pupil may choose, the choice of a picture will give 
evidence that the 'child has received an impression of 
the truth which the act of choosing will deepen. The 
pasting of the picture is mechanical. Its value lies 
not in the pasting but in the permanency given the 
picture. If the picture is an appropriate illustration 
of the lesson truth, it will tend to recall and to deepen 
the impression the child received from the lesson, and 
to suggest action similar to that depicted in the pic- 
ture. This is the type of work suggested for first year 
handwork. The handwork for the second and third 
year lessons makes an even greater demand on the 
thought powers of the child. The purpose of each is 
to deepen the lesson truths. 

What form of handwork would you use with first, 
second, and third year pupils? What is the best time 
for doing handwork ? How much time 
Questions should be given to it? What equip- 

ment is required? Who should super- 
vise and who should direct it? These are practical 
questions that may be answered briefly as follows : 

The handwork for first, second, and third year 
children should be suited to the capabilities of the 
children and be progressive in its requirements. See 
Primary Teacher's Text Books and Primary Lesson 
Detail for handwork suggestions for first, second, and 
third year lessons. 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 123 

The best time for doing handwork is immediately 
after the story has been told and as part of the lesson 
teaching, or the following Sunday in connection with 
the review of the lesson. Since the purpose of the 
handwork is to impress the lesson truth many teachers 
find that the pupils derive the most benefit from it if 
it is made a part of the lesson teaching. 

In a lesson period of thirty minutes ten or twelve 
minutes may be given to the handwork. In a fifteen 
minute lesson period not more than five. See Primary 
Programs for programs that may be carried out in 
thirty minutes, thus leaving thirty minutes for the 
lesson in a one hour session. 

The handwork should be directed by the class 
teacher, but the teacher should be under the direction 
of the superintendent, director of instruction, or other 
supervisor who is responsible to the superintendent 
of the school for the work done in the primary depart- 
ment. This means, of course, that the one who is 
at the head of the department understands the theory 
and practice of handwork and is capable of directing 
it and supervising the teachers. Otherwise a teacher 
or assistant should be in charge of the handwork. 

Class tables around which the pupils of a class may 

gather and on which they may work are a great con- 

_ venience, but not a necessitv. Excel- 

Equipment . . - J 

lent work is done m departments where 

the children use heavy cardboards, where they stand 
p 



i2 4 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



at a low shelf around the sides of the room, and where 
they lay their work upon the seats of their chairs and 
kneel upon the floor while drawing or writing. But 
no makeshift gives complete satisfaction, hence tables 
are recommended as a part of the equipment. 

Round and oblong kindergarten tables, sewing tables 
of extra length and width (42 inches by 22 inches) 
cut down to a convenient height, and kitchen tables 
made to special measurements have been found satis- 
factory. Wide, smooth boards laid on low horses are 
practicable, but tables with legs that fold are to be 
preferred for they may be the more easily removed. 
Many a primary department room is used during the 
week and all traces of equipment must be removed 
as soon as the primary session is over. In such a room 
there should be an attractive bookcase, cabinet, or 
library-file for storing supplies. Teachers cannot be 
expected to carry to and from Sunday school the 
pencils, paper, and other requisites for handwork. And 
there should be a convenient place in which to store 
tables and chairs. 



Each teacher needs a box in which to keep the tools 
and materials required for handwork. One that is 
Class Teacher's admirably adapted for the purpose is 
Equipment for the Globe Wernicke Filing Box, size 
Directing ten inches by twelve and one half. 

Handwork TooJs fof the teacher < s box are as 

follows: The teacher's record card or book; pencils, 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



125 



one for each pupil and several additional pencils for 
an emergency; a pencil sharpener or knife; a small 
pair of scissors; a punch; a guide for punching the 
folders; a tube of paste; the pictures of the picture 
sets; handwork paper in the boxes of the first year 
teachers; boxes of crayons, one box for two pupils. 
The pictures and verses for handwork and the pupils' 
folders should be placed in the box from week to 
week, always one week in advance of the Sunday that 
they will be required for the class work *and lesson 
teaching. 

The teacher's text books are for use by the teachers 
at home. They are not intended for use in class, as 
the stories are to be told, and the lessons are to be 
taught and not read to the pupils. 

The class teacher's full equipment, books, pictures, 
and other accessories necessary for teaching, is listed 
in the appendix of Primary Programs. The routine 
work to be cared for in class is discussed in the fore- 
word of the same book.* 

For a fuller study of the theory of handwork and 
of the principles which underlie handwork and ex- 
pressional activities, the reader is referred to the books 
under references. 

The pupil's equipment consists of first, second, and 
third year folders called Primary Stories. They are 



* See page 130 for a Record of Work Card. 
P 



126 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



designed primarily for the use of the child in the home 



to memorize at home during the week and recite to his 
teacher the next Sunday. The folders for each lesson 
are to be distributed by the teacher after the lesson has 
been taught. If this is not done the lesson the teacher 
will teach will be anticipated. The child's interest in 
the lesson will be weakened, and its helpfulness will 
be limited. 

The second and third year folders carry pages for 
handwork and for this reason will be used also by the 
child in Sunday school, provided the handwork is done 
in class under the direction of the class teacher. The 
handwork pages are to be detached from the folders, 
that is, they are to be torn from the folders on the 
creased or dotted line, and used by the pupil during 
the handwork period. This separating of the pages 
should not be left to the pupil. It should be done for 
him by his teacher or by the secretary of the depart- 
ment at some time other than during the lesson period. 
If the folders and handwork pages are to be made into 
books in accordance with the suggestions given in the 
text books, they must be punched for the children, 
that the holes in the folders, handwork pages, and 
folder covers may correspond. 

It is advisable for this preparatory work to be 
done at the first of each quarter, but when this is 



The Pupil's 
Equipment 



as each contains the story which the 
child is to read or to have read to him 
at home, and the memory verse he is 



p 



OF THE GRADED LESSOXS 



127 



impracticable, it may be done week by week, but 
always one week in advance of the Sunday when the 
folders will be needed. They should be in Sunday 
school ready for the children at least one week before 
they are to be distributed. 

Description of the first, second, and third year 
folders are to be found in Appendix C in this book. 
Suggestions for handwork for each lesson of the Pri- 
mary Series are given in the Primary Teacher's Text 
Books, and Primary Lesson Detail. 

References 

The Church School, "Walter S. Athearn, Foreword: 
chapter I, Functions, Activities, and Program; chapter 
VI, The Primary Department. 

Pedagogical Bible School, Haslett, chapters A" and 
VI, Stages of Growth and Development in Detail, 
selected paragraphs. 

The Xatural Way, Du Bois, chapter VI, Nurture 
by Exercise; chapter VII, The Discipline and the 
Practice. 

The Unfolding of Personality, Mark. All the chap- 
ters. 

Talks to Teachers on Psvchologv, Tames, chapters 
III to XV. 

Psychological Principles of Education, Home. Part 
V. Religious Education or Educating the Spirit in 
Alan. 

The Learning Process, Colvin, chapters I to IV. 

An introduction to Social Psychology, McDougall, 
chapter II, The Nature of Instincts. Their Place in 
the Constitution of the Human Mind; chapter VII. 

p 



128 . INTRODUCTION AND USE 



The Growth of Self-consciousness and of the Self- 
regarding Sentiment ; chapter VIII, the Advance to 
the Higher Plane of Social Conduct; chapter IX, Vo- 
lition. 

Dynamic Factors in Education, O'Shea. 

The Boy Scout Movement Applied by the Church, 
Richardson and Loomis. See chapter on Education by 
Motor Activity. 



Education is the improvement of life, of the 
powers of thought, feeling, and conduct on the one 
hand, and of the equally varied powers of expressing 
thought, feeling, and the intentions governing con- 
duct on the other. 

"Life's more than breath and the quick round of blood. 
'Tis a great spirit and a busy heart. 

.... He most lives 
Who thinks most — feels the noblest — acts the best." 

Thinking, feeling, acting — the head, the heart, the 
hand — these are still what we must think of when we 
speak of self-education or of the improvement of 
life. H. Thiselton Mark. 



p 



CHAPTER XIII 

PROMOTIONS AND PROMOTION 
REQUIREMENTS 



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5 ° 



CHAPTER XIII 



Promotions and Promotion Requirements 

The final word about promotions and promotion 
requirements cannot be said because opinions are in 
Rapidly the making. Each year ideas change 

Changing because of the better understanding of 

Opinions the child made 

possible by scientific 
research and educational experience. 

Until a comparatively recent time children in the 
public schools were taught in large classes. The in- 
struction was planned for the grade or 
Former Views ° 

for the class as a whole. Promotion 

requirements were the same for all the pupils in a class 
or grade. Each pupil's ability was judged by tests 
and his readiness for promotion was determined by 
examinations w T hich were alike for all. The pupil who 
stood high in his tests and passed his examinations 
creditably, was promoted with honor, had a part in 
the promotion exercises, and was given a certificate 
or diploma. The pupil who failed to measure up to a 
certain standard in his examinations might have done 
excellent work in his studies from week to week, but 
he was held in the class or grade for another year and 
made to repeat the course of study for that grade. 
The reasons why he failed were rarely considered or 

131 



132 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



taken into account. Because the majority of the pupils 
passed it was thought that he could have done so if 
he had been prepared. Because he failed he was not 
prepared and should be made to become so by means 
of reviews and drills. 

These views had their influence in the Sunday 
school. Promotion requirements in the primary de- 
partment were the same for all the pupils. All the 
children in a class or grade were expected to write the 
same number of memory verses and the same verses, 
to learn and to recite the same Bible passages, to 
memorize the same hymns, to w r rite answers to ques- 
tions within so many minutes, and to do the same 
amount of handwork. Written tests and examinations 
were given in other departments. 

The third year pupils who were able to meet rnese 
requirements were graduated from the department and 
were given diplomas. Those who failed to do what 
the others had done were transferred without public 
recognition. They were not given a diploma, nor as 
a rule were they given credit for the work which they 
had tried to do. 

An advance step was made in the secular school 
when it began to consider the difference in its pupils, 

and to make it possible for the child's 
Advance daily work to count as so many points 

for promotion. The present practice in 
most schools is to permit the pupils who have stood 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



high in their studies from week to week to be pro- 
moted without final examinations. Promotions are 
made regularly twice a year, while in different schools 
the experiment is being tried of promoting every eight 
or ten weeks or as often as a pupil gives evidence that 
he is ready to do advanced work. 

This understanding is responsible for the more 
recent educational practices. It is believed that be- 
cause of the differences in children they cannot be 
taught helpfully in large classes, but in small. Forty 
and fifty pupils used to be assigned to one teacher. 
This number is reduced to eighteen or less in the ap- 
proved primary schools. Each pupil is studied and 
treated as an individual, and methods and subject 
matter are adapted to individual needs and powers 
as far as this is possible. 

The child who cannot do arithmetic, but who is the 
first to hear a robin in the spring, who can imitate the 
notes of the hermit thrush singing in the wood at eve- 
ning, who fails to hear his mother's voice because he 
is standing at the window watching a young bird in 
its nest, is no longer called a dullard or thought to be 
queer. His studies are arranged in the line of his in- 
terests and also of his needs. He is not permitted to 
drop arithmetic from his course of study, but it is 
made interesting to him. He is given a note-book in 
which to paste or draw pictures of birds, diagrams 
and skeletons, to number the parts of the bird's body, 
and to keep account of the different birds he sees in 



134 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



a season. What happens? The hated study becomes 
interesting. Finally the child recognizes that he must 
use arithmetic if he is to pursue his favorite studies 
and he sets himself to work to master it. 

Methods for determining the child's knowledge and 
capability are being modified. It is understood that 
there are physical, mental, psycho-physical, social, and 
environmental reasons why one child excels in the 
oral recitation, another in the written test, another in 
constructive activities, why one child may be able to 
cover a paper with writing in the same period of time 
that his neighbor is writing a few sentences, and why 
a child who fails in his recitation every time he is 
called to stand gives a perfect recitation if he is per- 
mitted to remain quietly seated in his chair, and so on. 
Newer methods are being tested and deductions are 
being made from the results that are apparent thus 
far. But ideas and methods are subject to change. 
Therefore they cannot be said to be fixed, they are 
in the making. 

The efficiency of .the Sunday school has always been 
increased by the adoption of methods which are the 
The Effect result not of theory but of educational 

Upon the experience. Hence the changing 

Sunday School methods in the approved secular schools 
are having a noticeable effect in the Sunday school. 
It was the custom to teach the six, seven, and eight- 
year-old children departmentally, that is, as one class, 

p 



OF THE -GRADED LESSONS 135 

Now the Sunday school recognizes that children of 
varying ages and different stages of development 
should not be taught together. For the religious in- 
struction of these children it provides graded instruc- 
tion. In this way the child is not made to remain in 
one grade or on one plane of thought for a period of 
years, but is permitted to progress in his religious 
education. The modern Sunday school provides for 
small classes, thus making individual care and teaching 
possible. 

Furthermore, in determining the ability of the pri- 
mary child and his fitness for promotion from one 
grade to another and from the primary department to 
the junior department, the Sunday school is beginning 
to recognize the inadequacy of tests and of promotion 
requirements which are the same for all the pupils in 
a class or grade. 

It is believed that each pupil should be permitted 
to do the work he can do best and to be given credit 
for it. At the same time, the work that he cannot do 
easily or does not enjoy is to be made possible and 
enjoyable. It is the teacher's part and responsibility 
to make the uninteresting work interesting, to help 
the child who has difficulties, to adapt methods when- 
ever adaptation is necessary. It follows that this can- 
not be done when the class is large or when the chil- 
dren are taught departmentally. The classes should 
be small and the instruction needs to be graded. 

That teachers may understand what is expected of 
p 



136 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



them, there are promotion requirements for each year 
or grade. At the present it is advocated that these 
requirements should be for the teacher not the chil- 
dren. They are a means for discovering the needs 
of the pupils and for indicating methods of teaching 
and devices for maintaining interest. 



An examination of the Primary Graded Lessons, of 
the methods suggested in the text books for the teach- 
ing of these lessons, and of the work 
Promotion . , r - -i i 11 

Requirements Panned tor the pupils, shows that the 

idea of the growth and development of 
the pupil has been taken into account. In other 
words, it is recognized that the normal child who 
enters a grade at the beginning of one year does not 
remain the same throughout the year. There is steady 
growth and development. Hence as there is no sudden 
transition from one year to the next in the child there 
is none in the lessons. The lessons progress in content 
and complexity and in method of treatment as the 
child grows and develops in understanding and capa- 
bility. 

The memory verses for each grade are such that a 
child in that grade should be capable of learning. 
Similarly the correlated lessons are such that a child 
in the grade should be able to memorize. The lesson 
stories are such that the child should be able to retell, 
and the handwork, too, is planned in accordance with 
the developing powers of the child. The teacher 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



137 



should guide the children in doing all assigned work 
week by week.* To do this is the first promotion 
requirement. 

There are certain memory verses, correlated lessons, 
and hymns which the children should know especially 
well. The teachers in a grade should agree on these 
verses, lessons, and stories and review them from time 
to time. The superintendent should make use of them 
in the services of worshipf and in special exercises. 
This is the second requirement in preparing the pupils 
for promotion. 

The fitness of a pupil for promotion from grade to 
grade within the primary department and from the 
primary to the junior should not, however, depend 
upon his ability to recite all the memory verses agreed 
upon as desirable for him to know, or all the correlated 
lessons. It should be the pupil himself, his need of 
the truths taught by the lessons of the next grade, and 
his ability to understand the lessons and to act in re- 
sponse to them. 

If he is ready for the lessons, if he needs them, he 
should be promoted and be given a certificate of pro- 
motion. On his certificate, or on his diploma, if he 
is a third year pupil, he should be given credit for the 
work he has been able to do and also for the effort he 
has made. 



* See Primary Teacher's Text Book or Primary Lesson Detail for memory 
verses, correlated lessons, and home work suggestions, 
t See Primary Programs for suggestions for doing this. 

P 



138 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



To be explicit, if the child has learned the memory 
verses week by week and has recited them to his 
teacher he should be given credit for the same. If he 
has been able to retell lesson stories with feeling and 
understanding but has not memorized all of the corre- 
lated lesson passages, he should be given credit for 
story work. He should be urged to do all the work 
assigned for his grade but failure to do some part 
of it should not retard his progress or prevent him 
from receiving a certificate of promotion. 

There are reasons why one child excels in doing 
one thing and another child something else. Children 
of primary age are too young to understand these 
reasons and to overcome obstacles that may be hinder- 
ing them from making progress in their studies. They 
should not be made to suffer for what they may not 
be able to help. Therefore the children to be promoted 
should be treated alike and all should receive certifi- 
cates. This is true in the primary department. It 
need not be in the junior where the pupils are older. 

It is equally desirable that the children who have 

been faithful and have made effort, when others have 

not, should receive the encouragement of recognition. 

The certificates and diplomas should provide for this. 

Seals or stars may be used to indicate each pupil's 

standing, that is, the work he has done through the 

year, or seals may be attached to the ribbon with which 

his diploma is tied. Newer diplomas will carry a 

statement to the effect that the pupil therein named 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



139 



is promoted to the next grade, and space for assigning 
honors for memory verses, story telling, home work, 
correlated lessons, and handwork. In this way each 
pupil will receive recognition for the work he has 
the ability to do and has done. 

As a guide in determining the memory work that 
is desirable from their pupils, third year primary teach- 
ers have adopted the following outline. 
A Guide f cr ~ - it . r 1 . , 

Work Other outlines ot equal merit may be 

arranged. See the memory verses, 
correlated lessons, and lesson stories of the Primary 
Course. 

A reasonable number of memory texts. 
Luke 2 : 8-20 and a Christmas Song. 
Mark 16: 1-8 and an Easter Song. 
Missionary verses and a song. 
Temperance motto and song. 
Groups of texts on Giving. 

Hymn, "I Think When I Read That Sweet Story 
of Old." 

Hymn, "America," one verse. 
The Lord's Prayer. 
The Golden Rule. 
Psalm 23. 

The "Two Great Commandments." 

A morning and evening prayer. 

A grace to say at meals. 

Verse on God's house, day, and book, 
p 



HO INTRODUCTION AND USE 

From our present understanding of the nature, 
needs, and abilities of the primary child, it would seem 
as if the requirements for teachers and 

The Present 

Outlook pupils alike should be the regular and 

conscientious performance week by 
week of each week's task. These tasks may need to 
vary. But so far as possible each week the memory 
verse or verses should be learned by the pupil. The 
correlated lessons should be memorized as they occur 
in the course. Memorizing should never be left to 
the end of the year or to just before promotion to the 
junior department. If the memory work is done when 
it should be done, if it is reviewed from time to time 
and made use of in the different services and exercises 
of the department, there will be no need for examina- 
tions, tests, or cramming for promotion. The pupils 
will then be ready for promotion and able to do the 
work of the next year or grade with understanding 
and appreciation. 



Oxe of the things we need to do is to un-cabin the 
human soul, regarding it not as a thing apart, having 
a separate and distinct kind of existence, but as the 
controlling center of the whole life. 

H. Thiselton Mark. 



p 



CHAPTER XIV 
THE REAL TEST OF THE LESSONS 



P 



141 




CRIPPLED CHILDREN WITH THE CHRISTMAS GIFTS PREPARED 
FOR THEM BY OTHER CHILDREN 



CHAPTER XPV 



» 



The Real Test of the Lessons 

The Primary Graded Lessons as a course of study 

and the methods by which these lessons are to be taught 

A Means for have been under consideration. It is 

Testing the desirable, therefore, that in the closing 

Lessons chapter a means should be determined 

^Desirable • • 

by which a teacher may obtain a just 

estimate of the effectiveness of the lessons and the 
quality of the teaching. 

The supreme need of the Sunday school has been 
said to be the development of Christian character. 
The Purpose of From this it follows that a standard 
the Lessons the for testing lessons taught within any 
First Test department of the Sunday school can- 

not be reckoned in numbers — so many verses recited 
and so many hymns, so many lesson stories retold by 
the children and so much handwork done. It must be 
a standard of results, of effect on life and character. 

Character cannot be built in a day, nor is it a super- 
structure. It is built from the beginnings of life up- 
ward. Therefore it is with the young child that the 
foundations are laid. These foundations can be none 
other than knowing and loving God in all the ways 
that a little child can know and love him, and being 

H3 



144 INTRODUCTION AND USE 

obedient and doing his will for a little child, with all 
that this implies. Hence the first test of the lessons 
is their purpose. It is to lay those foundations which 
are needful. 

The Primary Graded Lessons measure up to the 
first requirement, for their purpose is, To lead the child 
to know the heavenly Father, and to inspire within 
him- a desire to live as God's child. The second test 
of the lessons is their effect upon the children to whom 
they are taught. 

Knowing is always accompanied by feeling and by 
willing. Hence we look to the child, to his forming 
The Child a character and to his present life for the 
Test of the real test of the lessons and of our 

Lessons teaching. 

The purpose of the lessons is to lead the child to 
the Father. The question is, Do they accomplish this? 
Does the child know God better? Has he a sense of 
God's nearness and a feeling of companionship with 
him as a result of the lessons? Does he feel his de- 
pendence upon God for life, for love, for care, for 
guidance, for goodness? Does he respond with love, 
trust, and obedience, and the desire to live as God's 
child? 

Is the child beginning to know right from wrong, 
and is he making a more conscious choice of the right? 
Is he gaining a sense of what kind of a child God's 
child -should be? Is he more reverent, more obedient? 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



145 



Is he endeavoring to be one of the followers and dis- 
ciples of our Saviour? The answer to these questions 
is the child himself — his conduct and character, what 
he thinks and says and does — what he is. 

In a questionnaire sent to a number of primary 
teachers, there appeared a question similar to this. 
Results to Be What responses have you noticed on 
Striven for and the part of the children to the Primary 
Expected Graded Lessons? 

There were teachers who did not know how to an- 
swer. One wrote: "I believe that the lessons are in- 
fluencing the conduct of the children, but I can give 
no concrete illustrations." One should be able to give 
illustrations for there are responses that should be 
striven for and expected in the Sunday school and in 
the home. 

Among those to be expected in the school are in- 
terest in the lessons, attention, regularity in attend- 
ance, faithfulness in attempting required work. The 
more character forming responses are, a spirit of 
reverence, participation in the worship, kindness, 
gentleness, consideration for others, ready and willing 
obedience, a love for truth and goodness. 

The responses that should be apparent in the home 
are a consciousness of God's presence and power, de- 
pendence upon him, communion with him — thinking 
about him and speaking to him in prayer — a childlike 

but purposeful choosing and doing of what is right 
p 



146 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



because wrong doing is displeasing to God, a growing 
appreciation of obligations and duties toward others 
and self, the desire and conscious endeavor to be one 
of the followers of Jesus. 

There are departments where the primary lessons 
have been in use long enough for a class to have come 
Results U P through the department. The les- 

Apparent from sons have been taught in their order 

the Use of the anc [ as they are intended to be, which 

Lessons • • 

is by grades and to the children for 

whom they have been chosen. In these departments 
certain results are apparent. A number that have been 
cited by teachers are as follows : 

"Under the graded lessons we have had our best 
attendance and interest." 

"We never observed any response until we used the 
graded lessons." 

"A mother told me it was a joy to take her little girl 
out of doors because everything that she saw was an 
evidence of God's love or care or bounty." 

"Many mothers tell me that they are surprised at 
the number of Bible stories their children know and 
are able to retell." 

"Instances are given by mothers of kindness shown 
by the children at home and school and to animals." 

"The children recognize God as the giver of all good 
gifts." "The response for helping others is splendid. " 
"I have found the graded lessons far in advance of 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



anything I have seen or used in primary work, although 
my experience is not a long one. When I took charge 
of the primary department over five years ago, they 
were using the uniform lessons and we had an average 
attendance of about fifty in our primary. I think we 
were one of the first schools to introduce the graded 
work. • The result in my own department has been 
most gratifying. We now have an enrollment of over 
200 with an average attendance of 145. The children 
love the Bible stories and it is really amazing how 
much some of the youngest children absorb. My teach- 
ers are all very enthusiastic over the lessons and so 
loyal and faithful in the work of their individual 
classes. Thus far I have never experienced the diffi- 
culty of which many complain of finding sufficient 
teachers to carry on the work. Our supply is usually 
greater than our demand and most of the time I have 
several on a waiting list anxious to come into the 
primary work whenever there is a vacancy. The work 
has really been a delight with so many willing and 
interested helpers. I feel that the lessons are leaving 
an imprint upon the lives of the children, for they carry 
home the message, often to homes with very little 
religious atmosphere and often through the children 
we have reached the parents. Many parents tell me 
that they cannot keep 'John or Mary' away from Sun- 
day school. The children love it so and take such 
delight in the things they do and hear at Sunday 

school." 
p 



i 4 8 INTRODUCTION AND USE 



'The use of the graded lessons in all departments 
has increased the desire for Bible ownership and the 
wish to read Bible stories at home.'' 

"I sent my little boy to the barn for some purpose 
after night. When he returned he said, 'Mother, I 
was not afraid even if it was dark. I just said to 
myself, "What time I am afraid I will put my trust 
in thee." ' I thought that a beautiful instance of faith. 
He had learned the verse at Sunday school, and it 
had helped him to be brave." 

"A mother said, T believe in your kind of Sunday 
school work/ When I asked what she meant she said : 
Tt has changed my little daughter's whole attitude 
toward her work in the home — now she washes dishes, 
does errands because it is doing as God wants her 
to do.' " 

'Tt was a primary class meeting behind the curtain 
in the little village church. They had just had the 
Story of a Guest Room, and the pupils had recited 
the memory verse, 'Forget not to show love unto 
strangers.' As the little faces looked up at her, the 
teacher was sure their feelings had been stirred and 
that they were ready to put truth into their lives. 

" 'Here is a picture of a dear old lady,' she said. 

'Everybody who knows her calls her "Auntie," but 

she is a stranger to you. What can we do to make her 

happy?' 'Send her something,' said Robert. 'Flowers, ' 

said Tena. 'Fruit,' said Marie. 'A book,' said Arthur. 

Tt must be one that we can all help make,' said the 
p 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 



teacher. 'We'll each one choose our favorite memory 
verse to put on a page.' 

"One by one the children whispered the verses they 
loved. 'He careth for you/ 'What time I am afraid 
I will put my trust in thee,' 'Thou hast made summer 
and winter,' The Lord is nigh unto all them that call 
upon him,' 'The day is thine, the night also is thine.' 
Each child went home to find the prettiest decoration 
possible for his page. The next Sunday they were all 
there prompt and eager for the making of the book. 

"This is only a part of the lesson. One more bit of 
it came one day when a lady said to the teacher, T met 
one of your little primary pupils to-day. I do not 
know her name and I do not think she knows me, but 
when she saw me look longingly at the beautiful bunch 
of violets which she had evidently just picked in the 
woods, she stopped and in the sweetest way said, 
"Would you like to have some of these violets?" and 
when I said "Yes, indeed," she gave me a generous 
half.' And this is not all; it is only a part, for the 
lesson is going on and on." 

"In a district where there were churches and church- 
going people there lived a boy eight years of age, He 
had received little or no religious instruction, and had 
never been taught to pray. He had never been to 
Sunday school. He may have been to church, but it 
was seldom that he had heard any one speaking to 
God. 

"Among the child's grown-up friends was one who 
p 



INTRODUCTION AND USE 



watched for the primary folders and as fast as they 
were ready sent them to the hoy. He received them 
eagerly and read the stories with keenest interest, for 
they had a message for him. The stories made God 
a living presence to whom the child wanted to speak, 
and he w r ent to his mother and asked her to teach him 
to pray that he might talk with God." 

"With the closing of the third grade lessons, which 
came to us with the text Tf ye love me ye will keep 
my commandments/ twelve of my little people made 
a declaration of their purpose to be his disciples, and 
best of all they know what they are doing/' 

A greater love for God, a consciousness of God as 
creatively active in the world, a sense of companion- 
ship with him and a dependence upon him, child lives 
transformed, and decisions made for Christ by the 
children who are ready to make them, are real tests of 
the lessons and of the teaching. 

It may be that a teacher is thinking, "Our children, 

my children, do not respond in any of these ways. I 

question if they are able to do so, or 
A Final Word r 1 1 1 

if the lessons are adapted to meet the 

needs of the children in our department/' It is prob- 
able that the responses have not been observed. There 
may have been no outward response on the part of the 
children.* It is possible that there has been no re- 
sponse of any kind. When this is true may it not be 



* Chapter X. 
P 



OF THE GRADED LESSONS 151 

said, that the children will not respond, may the teach- 
ing be tested. 

For the children to respond to the lessons three 
things are necessary. The lessons must be taught to 
the children for whom they have been selected, other- 
wise satisfactory results cannot be expected. The 
teacher must be in sympathy with the lessons and their 
purpose. Her desire and endeavor must be not to 
instruct but to reach and to affect the life of the child, 
help him to build a Christian character. A third re- 
quirement is the endeavor on the part of the teacher 
to become more efficient in her service and always to 
be a power for good and for God in the life of the 
child. 

And he gave some to be apostles ; and some prophets ; 
and some evangelists; and some, pastors and teacheis. 
(Ephesians 4 : 11.) 

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of 
him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace. 
(Isaiah 52 : 7.) 



APPENDIX A 



Purpose, Aims, and Material of the Interna- 
tional Graded Lesson Course 

The purpose of the Graded Lessons is : To meet the 
spiritual needs of the pupil in each stage of his develop- 
ment. The spiritual needs broadly stated 

Purpose 

are these : 

1. To know God as he has revealed himself to us in 
his Word, in nature, in the heart of man, and in Christ. 

2. To exercise toward God, the Father, and his Son, 
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, trust, obedience, and 
worship. 

3. To know and do our duty to others. 

4. To know and do our duty to ourselves. 

BEGINNERS 

.(Approximate age of pupils, 4 and 5) 

To lead the little child to the Father by helping him : 
1. To know God, the heavenly Father, who loves 
him, provides for, and protects him. 
2. To know Jesus, the Son of God, 
who became a little Child, who went about doing good, 
and who is the Friend and Saviour of little children. 

3. To know about the heavenly home. 

4. To distinguish between right and wrong. 

5. To show his love for God by working with him 
and for others. 

153 



154 



APPENDIX A 



Simple Bible Stories from the Old and New 
Testaments. Arranged by themes. 



Material 



Selected for use with little children of 



kindergarten age. 



PRIMARY 

(Approximate age of pupils, 6, 7, and 8) 

To lead the child to know the heavenly Father, and 
to inspire within him a desire to live as God's child : 
Aim 1. To show forth God's power, love, 

and care, and to awaken within the 
child responsive love, trust, and obedience. 

2. To build upon the teachings of the first year 
( 1 ) by showing ways in which children may express 
their love, trust, and obedience; (2) by showing Jesus 
the Saviour in his love and work for men; and (3) by 
showing how helpers of Jesus and others learn to do 
God's will. 

3. To build upon the work of the first and second 
years by telling ( 1 ) about the people who chose to do 
God's will; (2) how Jesus, by his life and words, 
death and resurrection, revealed the Father's love and 
will for us; (3) such stories as will make a- strong 
appeal to the child and arouse within him a desire to 
choose and to do that which God requires of him. 



A topical course arranged by groups under related 
themes : 

Material 1. Stories telling of God's Power, 

Love, and Care. 

2. Stories calling forth Love, Trust, and Obedience. 
Picturing Jesus in his life and work. Missionary 
Stories of the Helpers of Jesus. 

p 



APPENDIX A 



155 



3. Stories showing Obedience to God's will. Jesus 
doing God's will. Temperance lessons. 



JUNIOR 

(Approximate age of pupils, 9, 10, 11, and 12) 

To lead the child to become a doer of the Word, 
and to bring him into conscious relations with the 
Aim Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. 

1. To awaken an interest in the Bible 
and a love for it; to deepen the impulse to choose and 
to do right. 

2. To present the ideal of moral heroism; to reveal 
the power and majesty of Jesus Christ, and to show 
his followers going forth in his strength to do his 
work. 

3. To deepen the sense of responsibility for right 
choices; to show the consequences of right and wrong 
choices; to strengthen love of the right and hatred of 
the wrong. 

4. To present Jesus as our Example and Saviour; 
to lead the pupil to appreciate his opportunities for 
service and to give him a vision of what it means to 
be a Christian. 



Arranged chronologically by periods in the first two 
years. In the last two years the chronological sequence 
Material * s un k r °k' en > except when a topical 

course on Temperance is introduced. 

1. Early Old Testament Stories. Stories that Jesus 
Told. 

2. Conquest and Settlement of Canaan. Stories 
from the Life of Jesus, from the lives of Apostles and 
of later Missionaries. 



156 



APPENDIX A 



3. Stories from Hebrew History — Saul to Nehe- 
miah. Temperance Studies. Stories of the Maccabean 
Heroes. Introduction to the Life of Christ. 

4. The Gospel by Mark. Studies in the Acts. 
Stories of Later Missionaries. Studies about Our 
Bible and How it Came to Us. 

INTERMEDIATE 

(Approximate age of pupils, 13, 14, 15, and 16) 

To lead to the practical recognition of the duty and 
responsibility of personal Christian living, and to 
Aim organize the conflicting impulses of life 

so as to develop habits of Christian 

service. 

1. To present the ideals of heroic living, as exempli- 
fied by leaders of Israel who were inspired by faith 
in Jehovah, and as exemplified by North American 
leaders of like faith. 

2. To present the ideals of the Christian life, as 
exemplified by leaders whom Jesus inspired in his own 
and succeeding ages. 

3. (a) To set before the pupil, through a biograph- 
ical study of Jesus Christ, the highest possible ideals 
of Christian living in aspects and forms to which the 
impulses of his own nature may be expected to re- 
spond; (b) to lead the pupil to accept Jesus as his 
personal Saviour and the Master of his life. 

4. (a) To strengthen and encourage those young 
people who have decided to live the Christian life and 
to help others to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour, 
(b) To lead young people into a sympathetic and in- 
telligent attitude toward the Church and to help them 
to seek membership in it. (c) To awaken an interest 

p 



APPENDIX A 



157 



in Bible reading and study as a means of personal 
spiritual growth. 

The treatment here is biographical and historical. 

1. Leaders of Israel. Religious Leaders in North 
Material America. 

2. Early Christian Leaders. Later 
Christian Leaders. A Modern Christian Leader. 

3. The Life of the Man Christ Jesus. The Life of 
David Livingstone. 

4. Fundamental Principles of the Christian Life. 
The Organization of the Christian Life — The Church. 
The Text Book of the Christian Life — The Bible. 



SENIORS 

(Approximate age of pupils, 17, 18, 19, and 20) 

1. To lead the pupil to see life in proper perspective 
from the Christian point of view, and to aid him in 

finding his place and part in the world's 
work. To lead the pupil, through frank 
confidence in himself, his limitations, and his relations 
to the Kingdom of God, to a realization of the claims 
of Christ as Saviour and Lord, and of his service as 
the true basis of successful living. 

2. To awaken in young men and women a per- 
manent interest in the development of religion as 
reflected in the history and literature of the Llebrew 
people. To relate the studies of this year to the per- 
sonal religious life of the individual student. 

3. To awaken in young people an abiding interest 
in the New Testament, and appreciation of its funda- 
mental importance to the Christian faith, and a realiza- 

p 



158 



APPENDIX A 



tion of its practical value to them as a guide in Chris- 
tian conduct. 

4. To show the gradual transformation of the world 
through the progress of the gospel ; to interpret Chris- 
tian history as the unfolding and outworking of the 
spirit of Christ; to acquaint the student with the reli- 
gious heritage of Christendom; to relate him to the 
modern world-movements of Christian evangelism, 
brotherhood, and social service. 

The emphasis in the senior period is both social 
and historical. 

Material J ' ^he ^ or ld as a Field for Chris- 

tian Service. 
2. Survey of the Old Testament. 
. 3. Survey of the New Testament. 

4. Church History from Apostolic Times to the 
Present. 



APPENDIX B 

Outline of the Primary Graded Lessons for the 
Three Years 

(Approximate age of pupils: Six, seven, and eight years) 
AIM OF THE COURSE 

To Lead the Child to Know the Heavenly Father, and to Inspire within Him a 
Desire to Live as God's Child: 

1. To show forth God's power, love, and care, and to awaken within the child 

responsive love, trust, and obedience. 

2. To build upon the teachings of the first year (i) by showing ways in which 

children may express their love, trust, and obedience; (2) by showing Jesus 
the Saviour, in his love and work for men; and 13: by showing how helpers 
of Jesus and others learn to do God's will. 

3. To build upon the work of the first and second years by telling (1) about people 

who chose to do God's will; (2) how Jesus, by his life and words, death and 
resurrection, revealed the Father's love and will for us; (3) such stories as 
will make a strong appeal to the child and arouse within him a desire to 
choose and do that which God requires of him. 

FIRST YEAR IN DETAIL 

(Grade 1) 

In lessons which are starred (*), while the Bible material is cited, the teacher 
must look rather to God's book of nature for story illustrations suitable to the 
child mind. 

I. GOD THE CREATOR AND FATHER 

1. God the Creator of All things. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 1: 1 to 2: 3; Psalm 33: 6-9. 

Memory Verse: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 
Genesis 1:1. 

2. God the Father of All. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 2': 4-25; Malachi 2: 10a; Psalm 100: 3a. 
Memory Verse: O Lord, thou art our father. Isaiah 64: 8a. 

n. GOD THE LOVING FATHER AND HIS GOOD GIFTS 

3. *The Gift of Water. 

Lesson Material: Exodus 15: 22, 27; Psalms 104: 10-14; *47: 7~9', Isaiah 
41: 18; 43: 20b. 

Memory Verse: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, 
coming down from the Father. James 1: 17a. 

4. *The Gift of Daily Bread. 

Lesson Material: Psalm 85: 12; Leviticus 26:4; Mark 4:28. 29; Isaiah 
55: 10. 

Memory Verse: Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11. 

5. The Right Use of God's Good Gifts. Compare Psalms 145: 15. 16; 104: 27, 28. 

Lesson Material: Stories of Lessons 3 and 4 retold; Psalm 145: 15, 16. 
Memory Verse: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, 
coming down from the Father. James 1: 17a. 

159 

P 



i6o 



APPENDIX B 



HI. GOD'S CARE CALLING FORTH LOVE AND THANKS 

6. The Story of Noah and the Ark. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 6: 8 to 8: 19. 

Memory Verse: The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are 
glad. Psalm 126: 3. 

7. Noah Thanking God. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 8: 20-22; 9: 1-3, 8-17. 

Memory Verse: The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are 
glad. Psalm 126: 3. 

8. The People of Israel Saved at the Red Sea. 

Lesson Material: Exodus 14: 5-31. 

Memory Verse: The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are 
glad. Psalm 126: 3- 

9. A Song of Thanksgiving. 

Lesson Material: Exodus 15: 1, 2, 20, 21; Psalm 50: 23a. 
Memory Verse: The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are 
glad. Psalm 126: 3. 

10. Review : Review the stories of Lessons 6-9 in such a way as to enforce the theme. 

Memory Verses: The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are 
glad. Psalm 126: 3. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good. 
Psalm 107: ia. 

IV. LOVE SHOWN BY GIVING 

11. Willing Gifts for God's House. 

Lesson Material: Exodus 35: 4-29; 36: 4~7- 

Memory Verse: God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9: 7b. 

V. GOD'S BEST GIFT 

12. The Baby Jesus in a Manger. 

Lesson Material: Luke 2: 1-20. 

Memory Verse: God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
Son. John 3: 16a. 

13. The Visit of the Wise Men. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 2: 1-12. 

Memory Verse: And opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts. 
Matthew 2: 11c. 

VI. GOD THE PROTECTOR 

14. The Baby Jesus Saved from Danger. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 2: 13-15. 19-23. 

Memory Verse: The Lord is thy keeper. Psalm 121: 5a. 

15. The Story of the Baby Moses. 

Lesson Material: Exodus 2: 1-10. 

Memory Verse: The Lord is thy keeper. Psalm 121: 5a. 

16. Hiding a Boy King. 

Lesson Material: 2 Kings 11: 1-17. 

Memory Verse: The Lord is thy keeper. Psalm 121: 5a. 

17. Review. 

Lesson Material Lessons 14-16 (God protecting through people). 
Memory Verses: Review the memory verses of Lessons 2,3, and 10. 

18. A Lonely Hiding Place. 

Lesson Material: 1 Kings 17: 1-6. 

Memory Verse: What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in thee. Psalm 
56:3. 

19. Led by a Pillar of Cloud and Fire. 

Lesson Material: Exodus 13: 17-22; Numbers 9: 15-23. 
Memory Verse: What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in thee. Psalm 
56:3. 

P 



APPENDIX B 



161 



20. The Story of Jacob's Ladder. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 28. 

Memory Verse: I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou 
goest. Genesis 28: 15a. 

21. Review. Review the stories of Lessons 18-20. 

Memory Verse: I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou 
goest. Genesis 28: 15a. 

VH. GOD RESCUING FROM SIN 

22. The Story of the Garden of Eden. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 2: 8, 9. 15-17. IQ, 20; chapter 3 (selected verses). 
Memory Verse: Forgive us our sins. Luke 11: 4a. 

23. The Story of the Sheep that Was Lost. 

Lesson Material: Luke 15: 3-6; Matthew 18: 12-14. 
Memory Verse: Teach me thy way, Lord. Psalm 86: na. 

24. The Joy of the Shepherd. 

Lesson Material: Luke 15: 3-6; Matthew 18: 12-14. 

Memory Verse: Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. 
Luke 15: 6. 

Vm. GOD THE GIVER OF LIFE ON EARTH, AND IN HEAVEN 

25. *The Awakening of Hidden Life. 

Lesson Material: Job 37:6, 9, 10; Psalm 147: 15-18; Song of Songs 2: 
H-I3- 

Memory Verse: He hath made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesi- 
astes 3: 11a. 
2 i. Jesus Going to the Heavenly Home. 

Lesson Material: John 19: 30, 4.1, 42; 20: 1-18; Luke 24: 50, 51. 
Memory Verse: Behold, I am alive for evermore. Revelation 1: 18b. 

27. A Picture of the Heavenly Home. 

Lesson Material: Revelation 21: 1 to 22: 5. 

Memory Verse: In my Father's house are many mansions. John 14; 2a. 

28. Review. Review the stories of Lessons 26 and 27 and teach the thought of 

John 14: 2, 3. 

Memory Verse: In my Father's house are many mansions; ... I go to 
pfepare a place for you. John 14:2. 

IX. GOD SPEAKING TO A CHILD 

29. The Child Samuel in God's House. 

Lesson Material: 1 Samuel 1; 2: 18, 19, 26; 3. 

Memory Verse: Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. 1 Samuel 3: 9b. 

X. SPEAKING TO GOD IN PRAYER 

30. Ezra's Prayer for Help on a Journey. 

Lesson Material: Ezra 7; 8: 15a, 21-34. 

Memory Verse: The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him. Psalm 
145: 18a. 

31. King David's Wish and Prayer. 

Lesson Material: 2 Samuel 7. 

Memory Verse: The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him. Psalm 
145: 18a. 

XI. WORSHIPING GOD 

32. Building a House for God's Worship. 

Lesson Material: 1 Chronicles 29; 2 Chronicles, chapter 2-5 (selected 
passages). 

Memory Verse: It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to 
sing praises unto thy name, most High. Psalm 92: 1. 

P 



APPENDIX B 



33. Worshiping God by a River Side. 

Lesson Material: Acts 16: 9-1 5 . 

Memory Verse: It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to 
sing praises unto thy name, O Most High. Psalm 92: 1. 

34. Review. Review the stories of Lessons 30-33 to illustrate Theme X and XI. 

XII. PLEASING GOD BY RIGHT DOING 

35. Joseph Obeying His Father. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 37: 1-4. 12-17. 

Memory Verse: Honor thy father and thy mother. Exodus 20: 12a. 

36. Joseph's Unkind Brothers. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 37: 5-1 1. 18-36. 

Memory Verse: We should love one another. 1 John 3; 11b. 

37. Joseph's Kindness to His Brothers. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 42: 1 to 45: 15. 

Memory Verse: Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each 
other. Ephesians 4: 32a. 

38. Joseph's Care of His Father. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 45: 16-28; 46: 1-7; 47: 1-12. 

Memory Verse: Honor thy father and thy mother. Exodus 20: 12a. 

39. Self-Control. Review the stories of Lessons 35-38. 

Memory Verses: Review memory verses of Lessons 35-37. 

40. David's Care of the Sheep. 

Lesson Material: 1 Samuel 16: n, 12a; 17: 12-15, 34~37- 
Memory Verse: Be ye kind. Ephesians 4: 32a. 

41. How David Used His Harp. 

Lesson Material: 1 Samuel 16: 14-23. 

42. A Hungry Woman Sharing Her Bread. 

Lesson Material: 1 Kings 17: 8-16. 

Memory Verse: God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9: 7c. 

43. Four Young Men Choosing the Right. 

Lesson Material: Daniel 1. 

Memory Verse: Eat in due season for strength. Ecclesiastes 10: 17c. 

44. How Abraham Stopped a Quarrel. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 13: 1-12. 

Memory Verse: Blessed are the peacemakers. Matthew 5: 9a. ■ 

45. The Story of a Guest-Room. 

Lesson Material: 2 Kings 4: 8-1 r. 

Memory Verse: Forget not to show love unto strangers. Hebrews 13: 2a. 

46. A Captive Maid Trying to Help. 

Lesson Material: 2 Kings 5: 1-14. 

Memory Verse: Even a child maketh himself known by his doings. Prov- 
erbs 20: 11a. 

47. Generalization. 

Lesson Material: Psalms 86: na; 32: 8a. 

Memory Verses: Teach me thy way, O Lord. Psalm 86: 11a. I will instruct 
thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. Psalm 32: 8a. 

XIII. GOD'S LOVING-KINDNESS 

(A Review of the General Theme for the Year) 

48. God the Creator and Father. 

Lesson Material: Review of Lessons 1 and 2. 

Memory Verse: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. 
Matthew 22: 37a. 

49. God's Protecting Care. 

Lesson Material: Review Lessons 6 and 7, and emphasize Genesis 8: 22. 
Memory Verse: While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and 

cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not 

cease. Genesis 8: 22. 

P 



APPENDIX B 



50. God's Nearness to His Children. 

Lesson Material: Review the stories of Lessons 35-38. 
Memory Verse: The Lord was with Joseph. Genesis 39: 2a. 

51. God's Gift to the World. 

Lesson Material: Review the story of Lesson 12. 

Memory Verse: God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. 
John 3: 16a. 

52. Generalization. Ways in which God's children may show their love and 

thanks to him. 
Lesson Material: Psalm 86: 12, 13a; Proverbs 20: 11a. 

Memory Verses: Even a child maketh himself known by his doings. Prov- 
erbs 20: 11a. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart. 
Psalm 86: 12a. 

SECOND YEAR IN DETAIL 

(Grade 2) 

I. THE RIGHT USE OF GOD'S BOOK, GOD'S HOUSE, AND GOD'S DAY 

1. A Lost Book Found. 

Lesson Material: 2 Kings 22: 8, 10-13, 18-20; 23: 1-3. 
Memory Verse: Be ye doers of the word. James 1: 22. 

2. A King and His People Caring for God's House. 

Lesson Material: 2 Kings 12: 4-15; 2 Chron. 24: 4-14. 

Memory Verse: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts 
with praise. Psalm 100: 4. 

3. Keeping the Lord's Day. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 2: 2, 3; Exodus 20: 8; 31: 12, 13; Psalms 100; 
118: 24. 

Memory Verses: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 
20: 8. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and 
be glad in it. Psalm 118: 24. 

II. PRAYER AND PRAISE 

4. Praying for a Friend. 

Lesson Material: Acts 12: 3-17. 

Memory Verse: Pray one for another. James 5: 16. 

5. Daniel in the Lions' Den. 

Lesson Material: Daniel, chapter 6. 

Memory Verse: The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him. Psalm 
145: 18. 

6. Nehemiah, the King's Cup-Bearer. 

Lesson Material: Nehemiah, chapter 1; 2: 1-18; 4:6. 

Memory Verse: The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him. Psalm 
145: 18. 

7. A Story of a Thanksgiving Day. 

Lesson Material: Nehemiah 8: 1-12. 

Memory Verse: O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good. Psalm 118: 1. 

8. Review. 

Review the stories of Lessons 4-7. 

Memory Verses: Review memory verses of Lessons 4 to 7, and the verse, 
I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart. Psalm 86: 12. 

m. LISTENING TO GOD'S MESSENGERS 

9. God's Messengers to Abraham. 

Lesson Material: Genesis 18: 1-16. 

Memory Verse: I will hear what God the Lord will speak. Psalm 85: 8. 
10. Samuel Bringing God's Message to a Boy of Bethlehem. 

Lesson Material: 1 Samuel 16: 1-13. 

Memory Verse: I will hear what God the Lord will speak. Psalm 85: 8. 

r 



164 



APPENDIX B 



11. The Angel's Message to Mary. 

Lesson Material: Luke 1: 26-38, 46-55. 

Memory Verse: Thou shall call his name Jesus. Matthew 1: 21b. 

IV. THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS 

12. The Angels' Song and the Shepherds' Visit. 

Lesson Material: Luke 2: 1-20. 

Memory Verse: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among 
men in whom he is well pleased. Luke 2: 14. 

13. The Baby Jesus in the Temple. 

Lesson Material: Luke 2: 22-38. 

Memory Verse: Thou shalt call his name Jesus. Matthew 1: 21b. 

14. The Visit of the Wise Men. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 2^i-i2. 

Memory Verse: Opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts. Mat- 
thew 2: 11. 

15. The Story of a Journey. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23; Luke 2: 39, 40. 
Memory Verse: The child grew. Luke 2: 40. 

16. The Boy Jesus Visits Jerusalem. 

Lesson Material: Luke 2: 41-52. 

Memory Verse: Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with 
God and men. Luke 2: 52. 

V. JESUS THE HELPER 

17. Jesus and Four Fishermen. 

Lesson Material: Luke 5:1-11. 

Memory Verse: Jesus of Nazareth, . . . who went about doing good. 
Acts 10: 38. 

18. Jesus and a Blind Man. 

Lesson Material: Luke 18: 35-43; Mark 10: 46-52. 

Memory Verse: He received his sight and followed him, glorifying God. 
Luke 18: 43. 

19. Jesus and the Nobleman's Son. 

Lesson Material: John 4: 46-53. 

Memory Verse: The man believed the word that Jesus spake unto him, 
and he went his way. John 4: 50. 

VI. JESUS CHOOSING HELPERS 

20. The Helpers Chosen and Sent Out. 

Lesson Material: Luke 6: 12, 13; Matthew 10: 1-13. 

Memory Verse: Freely ye received, freely give. Matthew 10: 8. 

VII. JESUS LOVING AND RECEIVING LOVE 

21. Jesus and the Children. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 19: 13-15; Mark 10: 13. 14, 16; Luke 18: 15, 16, 
Memory Verse: Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them 
not. Luke iS: 16. 

22. A Gift for Jesus. 

Lesson Material: John 12: 1-8; Mark 14: 3-9. 

Memory Verse: God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9: 7. 

23. The Children's Praise Song. 

Lesson Material: "Matthew 21: 1-17. 

Memory Verse: We love, because he first loved us. 1 John 4: 19. 
VIII. JESUS USING HIS POWER 

24. Jesus Feeding Many Hungry People. 

Lesson Material: John 6: 1— 14; Matthew 14: 13-22; Mark 6: 30-44; Luke 
9: 10-17. 

Memory Verse: Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6: 11, 

P 



APPENDIX B 



25. Jesus Stilling the Storm. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 8: 18, 23-27; Mark 4: 35-41, Luke 8 22-25. 
Memory Verse: Even the wind and the sea obey him. Mark 4: 41. 

26. Jesus Restoring Life to a Little Girl. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 9: 18, 19, 23-26; Mark 5: 21-24, 35~43; Luke 
8: 40-42, 49-56. 

27. Jesus Dying and Living Again. 

Lesson Material: Mark 15: 1, 25, 37, 43-47; 16: 1-8. 

Memory Verse: Because I live, you shall live also. John 14: 19. 

28. The Walk to Emmaus. 

Lesson Material: Luke 24: 13—35. 

Memory Verse: The Lord is risen indeed. Luke 24: 34. 

29. Jesus Going to the Heavenly Home. 

Lesson Material: John 14: 1-3; Luke 24: 50-53; Mark i£: 19; Acts^i: 9. 
Memory Verse: I go to prepare a place for you. John 14: 2. 

30. Review. 

A general review of the stories of Lessons 12 to 29, with emphasis on the 
thought of Jesus as a helper, the power that enables him to help, and the 
heavenly home. 

Memory Verses: The memory verses for Lessons 11, 12 to 17, 21, 27, and 29. 

IX. THE HELPERS OF JESUS CARRYING ON HIS WORK 

31. Peter and John at the Beautiful Gate. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 28: 18-20; Acts 3: 1-16. 

Memory Verse: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye 
have Jove one to another. John 13: 35. 

32. Philip and the Man in a Chariot. 

Lesson Material: Acts 8: 26-38. 

Memory Verse: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole 
creation. Mark 16: 15. 

33. " Peter and the Roman Captain. 

Lesson Material: Acts 10: 1-9, 17-48. 

Memory Verses: The memory verses of Lessons 31 and 32. 

34. Review. 

Review the stories of Lessons 31— 33-, in such a way as to emphasize the 

thought of the memory verse. 
Memory Verse: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye 

have love one to another. John 13: 35. 



X. THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN THE WIDE WORLD OVER 

35- The North American Indians, I. 

Lesson Material: Isaiah 52: 7; Psalms 100: 3a, b; 117; 86: 9, 10; 67: 1— 4a; 

107: i-3. 5, 6, 8; 72: 18. 19. 
Memory Verse: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the 

whole creation. Mark 16: 15. 

36. The North American Indians, II. 

Lesson Material: The same material as for Lesson 35. 

Memory Verse: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the 
whole creation. Mark 16: 15. 

37. The Children of the Cold Northland. 

Lesson Material: The same material as for Lesson 35; and add Matthew 
28: 18-20. 

Memory Verse: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the 
whole creation. Mark 16: 15. 

38. The Children of Cherry-Blossom Land. 

Lesson Material: The same material as for Lesson 37; and add Psalms 
115: 4-8, 11, 13; 96: i-ioa. 

P 



APPENDIX B 



39. The Needs of Children the Wide World Over. 

Lesson Material: The same material as for Lesson 38. 
Memory Verse: 

O sing unto the Lord a new song: 

Sing unto the Lord, ail the earth. 

Declare his glory among the nations, 

His marvellous works among all the peoples. 

— Psalm 96: 1, 3. 

XI. LEARNING TO DO GOD'S WILL 

40. Moses, the Prince and Shepherd. 

Lesson Material: Exodus 1: 7-14, 22; 2: 1-21; 3: 1-12, 17; 4: 1-5; He- 
brews 11: 23-25. 
Memory Verse: Certainly I will be with thee. Exodus 3: 12. 

1. Moses Leading the Israelites Out of Egypt. 

Lesson Material: Exodus, chapters 11-14; Psalm 78: 12-16. 
Memory Verse: Certainly I will be with thee. Exodus 3: 12. 

2. The Story of the Manna. 

Lesson Material: Exodus 16: 14-31; Psalm 78: 23-25. 

Memory Verse: Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God. Psalm 
143: 10. 

43. The Giving of the Law. 

Lesson Material: Exodus 19: 16-25; 20: 1-18; 24: 3, 4, 7. 
Memory Verse: All that the Lord hath spoken will we do, and be obedient. 
Exodus 24: 7. 

44. The Two Brave Spies. 

Lesson Material: Numbers 13: 1-3. 17-33; 14: 1-10, 30. 

Memon T Verse: The Lord is with us: fear them not. Numbers 14: 9. 

45. Joshua Leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. 

Lesson Material: Joshua 1: 1-6; chapters 3 and 4; 5: 10-12. 
Memory Verse: Be strong and of good courage. Joshua 1: 6a. 



XII. THE RIGHT USE OF GOD'S GIFTS (Temperance.) 

46. The House in Which I Live. 

Lesson Material: 1 Corinthians 3: 16, 17b; 9: 4. 25, 27. 

Memory Verse: Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. 

Romans 12: 9. 
47- God's Gifts for Food. 

Lesson Material: Psalm 85: 12; Leviticus 26: 3, 5; Ecclesiastes 10: 17. 
Memory Verse: Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, 

do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10: 31. 

48. The Story of the Rechabites. 

Lesson Material: Jeremiah 35: 1-8, I2-I4a, 18, 19. 

Memory Verse: Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, 
do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10: 31. 

, Xin. ALL CREATION FULFILLING HIS WORD 

49. God's Creatures of the Field. 

Lesson Material: Job 12: 7-10; Proverbs 6: 6-11; 30: 24-28. 
Memory Verse: 

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; 

The world and they that dwell therein. — Psalm 24: 1. 

50. The Great, Wide Sea. 

Lesson Material: Psalms 33: 7; 95: 5; 104: 25-27; 107: 23-25, 29; 93: 4. 
Memory Verse: 

Above the voices of many waters, 

The mighty breakers of the sea 

The Lord on high is mighty. — Psalm 93: 4, 

P 



APPENDIX B 



167 



51. Day and Night. 

Lesson Material: Psalms 19: 1, 2; 74:16; 139:12; Jeremiah 31: 35; Eccle- 

siastes 1:5; 11: 7; Genesis 15: 50; Psalms 8:3; 104: 19-24. 
Memory Verse: The day is thine, the night also is thine. Psalm 74: 16. 

52. Seedtime and Harvest. 

Lesson Material: Psalm 24: 1; Job 28: 5a; Psalm 65: 9-13; Song of Solo- 
mon 7: 13b; James 5: 7b; Mark 4: 28, 29; Genesis 8: 22. 

Memory Verse: While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and 
cold and Ijfeat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not 
cease. Genesis 8: 22. 

THIRD YEAR IN DETAIL 

(Grade 3) 

L SEEKING TO KNOW AND TO DO GOD'S WILL 

1. A Shepherd Boy and a Giant. 

Lesson Material: 1 Samuel 17. 

Memory Verse: I will fear no evil; for thou art with me. Psalm 23: 4. 

2. David's Friendship with a King's Son. 

Lesson Material: 1 Samuel 18: 1-16; 19: 1-10; 20: 1-42. 

Memory Verse: He loved him as he loved his own soul. 1 Samuel 20: 17. 

3. Abigail the Peacemaker. 

Lesson Material: 1 Samuel 25: 1-35. 

Memory Verse: .Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry. Ecclesiastes 7: 9. 

4. David and the Sleeping King. 

Lesson Material: 1 Samuel 26. 

Memory Verse: Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Luke 6: 36. 

5. David's Mighty Men. 

Lesson Material: 2 Samuel 23: 13—20. 

Memory Verse: Be strong and of good courage. Joshua 1: 6. 

6. King David's Kindness to a Lame Man. 

Lesson Material: 2 Samuel 4: 4; 1 Samuel 20: 42; 2 Samuel 9: 1-13. 
Memory Verse: Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each 
other. Ephesians 4: 32. 

7. King David Cheerfully Giving up His Own Way. 

Lesson Material: 1 Chronicles 17 and 28. 

Memory Verse: Serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. 1 
Chronicles 28: 9. 

8. God's House for Praise and Prayer. 

Lesson Material: 2 Chronicles 3 to 6; Isaiah 56: 7. 
Memory Verse: 

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, 

And into his courts with praise. 

— Psalm 100: 4. 

9. Review. 

Review the stories of Lessons 1, 4, 6, and 7. 
Memory Verses: 

Review the memory verses of Lessons 1, 4, 6, and 7. 

H. THE COMING OF GOD'S SON TO DO HIS WILL 

10. God's Promise to Zacharias. 

Lesson Material: Luke 1: 5-23, 57~6o. 

Memory Verse: For thou shaft go before the face of the Lord to make 
ready his ways. Luke 1: 76. 

11. God's Promise to Mary. 

Lesson Material: Luke 1: 26-38. 46-56. 

Memory Verse: Thou shaft call his name Jesus; for it is he that shall save 
his people from their sins. Matthew 1: 21. 



APPENDIX B 



12. The Story of the Birth of Jesus. 

Lesson Material: Luke 2: 1-20; Matthew 2: 1-12. 

Memory Verse: Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall 
be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David 
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2: 10, 11. 

13. John's Message About Jesus. 

Lesson Material: Luke 3: 1-18; Matthew 3: 1-12; John 1: 29-34. 
Memory Verses: Review memory verses of Lessons 10 and 11. 

14. Jesus Baptized. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 3: I3~I7; Mark 1:4-11. 

Memory Verse: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Mat- 
thew 3: 17. 

m. JESUS REVEALING THE FATHER'S LOVE 

15. Jesus and the Man at the Pool. 

Lesson Material: John 5: 1-14. 

Memorv Verse: Jesus saith unto him, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. 
John'5: 8. 

16. The Story of Ten Lepers. 

Lesson Material: Luke 17: 11-19. 

Memory Verse: It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. Psalm 92:1. 

17. A Busy Day at Capernaum. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 8: 14-17; Mark 1: 21-34. 
Memory Verse: He healed many that were sick. Mark 1: 34. 

18. The Power of Jesus to Forgive Sin. 

Lesson Material: Luke 5: 17-26; Mark 2: 1-12. 
Memory Verse: Thy sins are forgiven thee. Luke 5: 20. 

19. A Story about Forgiving. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 18: 21-35. 

Memory Verse: Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
Matthew 6:12. 

20. Jesus Teaching How to Pray. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 5: 1, 2; 7: 11; 6: 9-13. 
Memory Verse: Lord, teach us to pray. Luke 11: 1. 

21. A Gift that Pleased Jesus. 

Lesson Material: Mark 12: 41-44; Luke 21: 1-4. 

Memory Verse: Every man shall give as he is able. Deuteronomy 16: 17. 

22. Jesus in the Home of Zacchasus. 

Lesson Material: Luke 19: 1-10; Matthew 1: 21. 

Memory Verses: Review memory verse of Lesson ri; and teach, The Son 
of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19: 10. 

23. The Story of the Good Samaritan. 

Lesson, Material: Luke 10: 25-37. 

Memory Verse: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Leviticus 19: 18. 

24. Jesus Teaching a New Commandment. 

Lesson Material: John 13: 1-17, 34, 35; Matthew 20: 28. 

Memory Verse: A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one 

another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 

13: 34- 

25. Jesus and His Friends in the Upper Room. 

Lesson Material: Luke 22: 7-13; Matthew 26: 17-20, 26-30; John 13: 33- 
35; 14: 1-15. 

Memory Verse: If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. John 14: 15. 

26. Jesus Dying and Living Again. 

Lesson Material: Luke 23: 33~35; 24: 1-7. 

Memory Verse: I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore. Revela- 
tion i: 18. 

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APPENDIX B 



169 



27. The Resurrection Day. 

Lesson Material: Mark 16: 1-7; John 20: 11-18; Matthew 28: 5-10; Luke 

24: 13-31, 34-40; 1 Corinthians 15: 5. 
Memory Verse: He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said. Matthew 

28: 6. 

28. Jesus Returns to the Father. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 28: 16-20; Luke 24: 50-53; Acts 1:3, 9-14. 
Memory Verse: Go ye' into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole 
creation. Mark 16: 15. 

29. Review. 

Selected stories and memory verses from Lessons 15-28 reviewed in such a 
way as to develop the thought expressed in John 3: 16. 

Memory Verse: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal 
life. John 3: 16. 

IV. THE MESSENGERS OF JESUS DOING GOD'S WILL 

30. Peter the Fisherman. 

Lesson Material: Luke 5: 1— 11; Matthew 14: 22-33. 
Memory Verse: They left all. and followed him. Luke 5:11. 

31. Peter's Lie Forgiven. 

Lesson Material: Luke 22: 33, 34. 39-4L 45. 47. 54-62. 

Memory Verse: Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive. Psalm 86: 5. 

32. Peter Trusted Again. 

Lesson Material: John 21: 1— 17. 

Memory Verse: Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love 
thee. John 21: 17. 

33. Peter Bravely Doing His Work. 

Lesson Material: Acts 5: 12-42. 

Memory Verse: We must obey God rather than men. Acts 5: 29. 

34. Review. 

Review the stories of Lessons 30-33- 

Memory Verses: Review the memory verses of Lessons 30, 31, 32, and 33. 

35. Saul Persecuting Christians. 

Lesson Material: Acts 9: 1-19; 22: 3-16; 26: 9-1 1. 
Memory Verse: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Acts 22: 7. 
.1* Paul Preaching Christ. 

Lesson Material: Acts 9: 20-30; 13: 44-52. 

Memory Verse: Thou shalt be a witness for him unto all men of what thou 
hast seen and heard. Acts 22: 15. 

37. Paul in Prison. 

Lesson Material: Acts 16: 16-40. 

Memory Verse: Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 
16: 31. 

38. Paul Shipwrecked. 

Lesson Material: Acts 27: 1-44. 

Memory Verse: In God have I put mv trust, I will not be afraid. Psalm 
56:4. 

39. Review: Paul's Story of His Adventures. 

Lesson Material: The stories of Lessons 35-38; and 2 Corinthinas 11: 24-33. 
Memory Verse: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I 
have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4: 7. 

V. TRUSTING AND SERVING GOD 

40. Elijah the Man of God. 

Lesson Material: 1 Kings 17. 

Memory Verse: Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord. Jeremiah 
17: 7. 

P 



APPENDIX B 



41. The Contest on Mount Carmel. 

Lesson Material: 1 Kings 18. 

Memory Verse: If the Lord be God, follow him. 1 Kings 18: 21. 

42. Elijah Hiding in a Cave. 

Lesson Material: 1 Kings 19: 1-18. 

Memory Verses: Teach me to do thy will. Psalm 143: 10. I will instruct 
thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. Psalm 32: 8. 

43. Elijah and Elisha. 

Lesson Material: 1 Kings 19: 19-21; 2 Kings 2: 1-15; 3: 11. 
Memory Verses: Review the memory verses of Lesson 42. 

44. A Sorrowing Mother Made Glad. 

Lesson Material: 2 Kings 4: 8-37. 

Memory Verse: Review memory verse of Lesson 40. 

45. Elisha Teaching His Servant to Trust. 

Lesson Material: 2 Kings 6: 8-17. 

Memory Verse: The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that 
fear him, and delivereth them. Psalm 34: 7. 

46. Review. 

Review the stories of Lessons 40 and 45. 

Memory Verses: Review the memory verses of Lessons 40, 41, 42, and 45. 

VI. CHOOSING THE RIGHT 

(May be used as Temperance Lessons) 

47. Returning Good for Evil. 

Lesson Material: 2 Kings 6: 18-23. 

Memory Verse: Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 
Romans 12: 21. 

48. A Servant Yielding to Temptation. 

Lesson Material: 2 Kings 5: 15-27. 
Memory Verses: 

Thou shalt not covet. Exodus 20: 17. 

Thou shalt not steal. Exodus 20: 15. 

Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbor. Zechariah 8: 16. 

49. Four Captive Boys in the Palace School. 

Lesson Material: Daniel 1; Ecclesiastes 10: 17. 

Memory Verse: Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile him- 
self with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank. Daniel 
1: 8. 

50. Three Heroes. 

Lesson Material: Daniel 3. 

Memory Verses: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20: 3. 
Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor wor- 
ship the golden image which thou hast set up. Daniel 3: 18. 

51. Esther, the Brave Young Queen. 

Lesson Material: Esther 2: 5-7, 17, 20-23; chapters 3 to 8. 
Memory Verse: Who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom 
for such a time as this? Esther 4: 14. 

52. Review: The Two Great Commandments. 

Lesson Material: Matthew 22: 34-40; Mark 12: 28-34. 

Memory Verses: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with ail thy heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first 
commandment. And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself. Matthew 22: 37-39. 



I/O 



APPENDIX C 



PRIMARY GRADED LESSON EQUIPMENT 

A series of teachers' text books and pictures, stories 
for the pupils, and planbooks for the primary super- 
intendent. 



Primary Teacher's Text Book, First Year 

Fifty-two lessons, with suggestions for teaching, 
for the pupil's memorization, home work and hand- 
work, and for the teacher's reading. Parts I to IV. 
Each part contains music and a picture supplement. 
25 cents a part, postpaid. 

Primary Teacher's Text Book, Second Year 

Fifty-two lessons, with suggestions as above. The 
lessons are for use with pupils approximately seven 
years of age. The interests, activities, and needs of 
children of this age have been duly considered in the 
selection of the lessons and also in their development 
or treatment. 

Parts I to IV. In the different parts are to be found 
music, temperance, and missionary bibliographies, and 
a promotion exercise. 25 cents a part, postpaid. 

Primary Teacher's Text Book, Third Year 

Fifty-two lessons, with suggestions as above. 

The third year lessons are for use with pupils of 
approximately eight years of age. They recognize the 
principle of growth and development on the part of 

171 

p 



172 



APPENDIX C 



the child and are progressive in subject matter and 
treatment. Because some children enter upon a first 
spiritual crisis between the ages of eight and nine the 
lessons have been chosen with special reference to the 
needs of these children. As a whole the lessons are 
preparatory to the work of the Junior Department. 

Parts I to IV with a Foreword and Appendix in 
each. In the Appendices are to be found music, 
bibliographies, promotion requirements and a gradu- 
ating exercise. 25 cents a part, postpaid. 

Primary Picture Set, No. 1 

Thirty-two pictures (6^2x8^8 inches). These pic- 
tures are printed in four colors and are for the use of 
the teacher in teaching the second year lessons. They 
are usable also in third year classes and in all depart- 
ments of the school above the Beginners. 

It is said of these pictures that they are so true to 
the spirit of the lessons which they illustrate, so exact 
in detail, so revealing as to manners and customs that 
they are the greatest aid in teaching. 

Price per set (32 pictures), $1.25. The pictures are 
not sold separately. 

Primary 'Picture Set, No. 2 

Twelve missionary pictures (6^2x8% inches) 
printed in sepia on India tint paper. The purpose of 
the pictures of this set is to bring the children in dis- 
tant places near, to make them real, that the children 
in the Sunday school may begin to understand the 
needs of children the wide world over to know and 
love God and Jesus Christ. 

These pictures are designed primarily for class use, 
but when framed and hung in a group they make a 

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most attractive wall decoration. Price per set, 30 
cents. Not sold separately. 

Primary Picture Set, No. 3 

Twenty-four pictures (63/2x8% inches) printed in 
four colors. These pictures are for the illustration 
of the third year primary lessons, and have many 
teaching values. Manners and customs change slowly 
in the Holy Land and those portrayed in the pictures 
are accurate. Life in Palestine in the time of our 
Lord is well represented. The pictures are adapted 
to bring the Bible narratives out of the realm of the 
imagination, make the distant in time and place near 
and give reality to the characters. They will do this 
not onlv for the children in the primary department 
but with older pupils. They should be used in every 
teacher training class. 

Price per set, Si. 00. The* pictures are not sold 
separately. 

Pupil's Folders, First Year 

The Graded Primary Lessons make possible an 
equipment for the pupil adapted to his capability and 
his powers for enjoyment. There are fifty-two 
folders for each of the primary years. 

Each first year folder contains a lesson picture, a 
story to be read to the pupil, and the Bible verse he is 
to memorize during the week and recite to his teacher 
on Sunday. The folder for each lesson is to be given 
the pupil at the close of that lesson. The folders are 
called Primary Stories. 

Primary Stories, First Year, four pages, issued 
quarterly. Single subscriptions, 25 cents a year. 
School subscriptions, 20 cents a year, 5 cents a quarter. 

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APPENDIX C 



Pupil's Folders, Second Year 

The folders for the second year are prepared for 
pupils who are beginning to read, and through the 
year will acquire the ability to read easily. 

The type is large, that the pupils may begin to pick 
out the familiar words, to put words and sentences to- 
gether and learn to read the stories for themselves. 
As they gain the ability to do this, the pupils may be 
requested to read and study the stories and memory 
verses at home. 

The folders for the second year carry pages for 
handwork and are six-page in contrast to the four- 
page folders of the first year. 

Primary Stories with Handwork, Second Year. 
Six pages issued quarterly. Single subscriptions, 35 
cents a year. School subscriptions, 26 cents a year, 
6 l / 2 cents a quarter. 

Pupil's Folders, Third Year 

The third year folders are printed in a type that 
the average child, eight years of age, has no difficulty 
in reading. They have been prepared for the use of 
the pupil both in Sunday school and at home. 

The first and greater aim of the stories in the folders 
is to impress a truth which is helpful to the child in 
his religious and spiritual development and to make 
attractive the acts and conduct suggested by the story. 
The secondary and lesser aim is to teach the facts in- 
cident to the story and make such explanation of man- 
ners and customs as the pupil eight years of age is 
capable of understanding and will find interesting. 
The folders should be punched and the child should 
be taught to fasten them into a book cover, that he 
may have the stories to read and study at home. 

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175 



Primary Stories with Handwork, Third Year. Six 
pages, issued quarterly. Single subscriptions, 35 cents 
a year. School subscriptions, 26 cents a year, 6 l / 2 
cents a quarter. 

Folder Covers 

Decorated folder covers are available at 25 cents 
a dozen, or $2.00 per 100. 

The covers now ready are four in number, one for 
each quarter. The designs are seasonal and poster- 
like in effect. 

The Primary Superintendent's Equipment 

Not only for the class teacher is an adequate equip- 
ment available, but also for the superintendent of the 
primary department' in which the Primary Graded 
Lessons are taught. It includes the Primary Teacher's 
Text Books, the two books of the Primary Planbook 
Series and the Graded Edition of the Sunday School 
Journal. 

Primary Lesson Detail aims to conserve the time 
and effort of the primary superintendent by setting 
forth in brief and concise form such information about 
the lessons as is needed to superintend the department. 

Primary Lesson Detail, Primary Planbook Series, 
Book One. Price, 60 cents. 

Primary Programs is intended to aid in directing 
and enriching the children's worship and contains fifty- 
two programs. It is helpfully illustrated. 

Primary Programs, Primary Planbook Series, Book 
Two. Price, 75 cents, net. 

Sunday School Journal, Graded Edition _ 

The only teacher's help of its kind. For the primary 
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department there are new programs and songs, sea- 
sonal exercises, new story material, plans for depart- 
mental and class activities, and other helpful sug- 
gestions. Price, 60 cents a year, 5 cents a copy. 

Other Requisites 

For Primary Diplomas, Primary Promotion Cer- 
tificates, Primary Birthday Cards, and Primary 
Record of "Work Cards, send to The Methodist Book 
Concern. 



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